


The Protector.

by SunflowerLesbean



Series: Two-sided coin. [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Also rated T for language, Eleven | Jane Hopper Needs A Hug, F/F, Gay Will Byers, Hop ain’t dying i can tell you that, It starts in the end of season 2, Lesbian Eleven | Jane Hopper, Lesbian Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Not beta’d so I’m sorry in advance I’m trying my best, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, WHOOO BUDDY, Will Byers Has Powers, Will Byers Needs a Hug, also, also billy is mentioned but only as an asshole and will possibly be arrested who knows not i, and its essiantally my take on everything that happened in between 2 and 3 and after, and stoncy and henclair because why not just have all th gays amiright, guess who can finally add that tag, im gonna add tags as they become relevant, kind of canon compliant kind of not?, no smut they’re fucking children you heathens, okay so this is gonna be my first stranger things fic, primarily an elmax fic but there is some background Byler, they all need hug but those 3 especially, we also gonna be changing some things, yea i did
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-09-02 09:37:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20273803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerLesbean/pseuds/SunflowerLesbean
Summary: Although El and Will had never officially spoken, outside of the one instance when she found him in the upside down last year, El felt drawn to Will in way she couldn’t explain. The same way she was drawn to Mike. And the same way her thoughts seemed to be drawn to the pretty girl with the long red hair.





	1. Pretty.

**Author's Note:**

> I apparently express emotion through italics and i'm sorry in advance. The fic has gone through so many stages it’s crazy but I finally feel like I’m getting somewhere with this idea. So this Fic will all be in El’s POV, its the beginning of a series I’m starting following the relationship and connection of El and Will, tho that’s not introduced until next chapter. Most of El’s fic will focus on El’s relationships with Will, Hop, and of course Max because this is an Elmax fic. I hope you enjoy!

The first time El Meets Max she technically doesn’t meet her, she just sees her from the small window looking to the gym of the Hawkins middle school. 

El’s been roaming around the middle school for what feels like hours but in reality has probably been ten minutes. Her anxiety is growing by the second as she flashes back through everything that happened right here in these halls. She just wants to find Mike, to know he’s okay, to see him not just in her void. Whatever happens after doesn’t matter as long as she knows Mike is okay.

Finally she’s walking down a hallway and she hears it, that oh so familiar voice. The voice who taught her kindness, and comfort. She follows it to a pair of doors she recognizes as the gym where she entered her bath to find Will. She briefly wonders if she’ll be able to see Will also, she’s never gotten to meet him properly. She looks inside the gym door window and her heart soars.

She sees Mike and she’s so happy because its been so long and here he is _safe._

But then she notices he’s talking to someone. No not someone a _girl_. Mike is talking to girl, alone. All the soap operas and movies that have kept her company over the past year have taught her this is not a good thing. 

She looks at the girl and something churns in her stomach, something familiar but too far away to identify. She stores it away as that emotion T.V has said she is supposed to feel when the boy she likes is talking with another girl: jealousy. 

She sees the girl talking to Mike and she’s spinning around him on a weird moving board that El doesn’t recognize. And then the girl makes some jester towards herself and says something El can’t make out and El was about to try and walk through the doors when the girl smiles. _She smiles._

And that emotion bubbles even more ferociously, refusing to be ignored. El doesn’t understand it and she just wants it to _go away,_ so she does the only thing she can think of to appease it. 

She kicks the girl off her board with wheels _(what is that thing? It moves around like Mikes bike but you’re standing??? Mental note to look up weird wheeled device later.)_ and watches her fall to the ground. 

In an instant Mike rushes to her side and El can just barely hear his voice mumble something to the girl that sounds mildly concerned but is otherwise incoherent _(incoherent - inaudible, her words of the day for day 206 and 207 respectively)_ and then he's helping her up and shes smiling _again_ and then Mike is holding her hand. It’s this that El convinces herself is why her action did not appease the emotion -_ jealousy she reminds herself_ \- but instead upsets it even further. Before she can think anymore she rushes out of the building and never looks back.

— 

Kali is trying to get her to move a train. A _train. _El cant. It’s too heavy, and too large, she’s not strong enough and _she never will be._ El is ready to give up but Kali wont let her. 

“Find that anger. Focus on that, not the train, not its weight.” Kali says, El lifts her hand again and tries. 

“I want you to find something from your life. Something that angers you.” El thinks of the girl spinning around Mike again, and that feeling burrows back into her chest. It’s strong, but she’s not sure if its anger, its gotta be right? What else can it be?

”now channel it.” She tries, and the train moves a little bit but its not enough. She’s not angry enough, she’s just confused. 

Kali tells her to dig deeper and she does, memories of her past and pain come flooding back and she’s screaming and everything hurts but hey they train is closer now so that’s something right?

El barely has time to think on it again before they’re off to find the bad man who hurt Mama. But something is bothering her in the back of her head. Why wasn’t the anger of the girl strong enough, and why doesn’t it feel like the other kinds of anger she knows? Maybe jealousy just isn’t a strong form of anger. It’s probably just exaggerated for T.V she thinks. 

And just like that, they’re off.

—

The second time El meets Max she had just killed something that looked kind of like a Demogorgon but _not_.

She was tired after the emotional leaving of Kali and the hours bus trip back to Hawkins that she barely slept on. Quite honestly El was drained, _exhausted_. But she didn’t have time to be, there was work to be done and it was all up to her to fix, just like before. 

She saw Mike, really saw him, and for the first time in ages she felt _safe. _And then there was Hop and god despite everything she missed him so much, he drove her crazy but also kept her grounded, the only person to treat her like a child, a normal child, not like some experiment or cool superhero. 

When Hop took the screaming Mike to another room, presumably to calm him down, El looked around to everyone else that was there once again in the Byers’ living room.

Her eyes land first on Nancy, and though they had never really had an actual conversation she smiled at El and El felt a pang in her chest that she remembered from the first time she ever saw Nancy, in the picture that sits on the Wheelers shelf- Nancy: _Pretty._

She was still just as pretty but she looked different, aside from her hair being shorter she looked empty, like one of the shells that came out of the loud machine Nancy shoots with her hand sometimes- a gun Hop calls it, he carries one too for work- and she looks just as exhausted as El feels. But despite all of this Nancy’s face is hardened, determined and as always _strong_. 

Before she can think on it anymore El is wrapped in a bear hug by two sets of familiar arms and her heart practically _melts_ from the warmth their embrace brings, she never thought she would feel this warm again and she would cry if she could, but they need her to be strong even now. 

She’ll cry later if later ever comes.

When their embrace finally ends Dustin and Lucas are excitedly trying to catch her up on everything she’s missed, talking both together and over each other all at once, just as they always do. El can’t help but smile to herself, even if she has no idea what they’re saying she’s missed these boys more than she can even comprehend. _(And she tries to fight the sadness that is welling in her chest at just how much they’ve grown and just how much she’s missed.)_

And then someone comes up from behind them. 

“Eleven?” the girl asks, El quickly identifies her as the girl from a few days ago.

The girl she was jealous of.

The girl sticks out her hand confidently and introduces herself “Hey, um, I’m Max. I’ve heard a lot about you.” 

El looks at her for the first time up close and her heart stops for a moment, _just a moment_, that feeling is back in her chest again. 

But it’s not distant anymore and El recognizes it better this time, not because she had identified it as jealousy, but because she had _just_ felt it. When she saw Nancy. It wasn’t jealousy at all, and to be honest El had no clue what it actually was just that when she looked at the girl -_Max she reminded herself-_ the same thought ran through her brain as it did when she looked at Nancy. _Pretty._

Max wasn’t pretty like Nancy was pretty. Her hair looked red, almost orange and El had never seen anyone with hair of this color before, but it was pretty, and long and curly. She was pale with freckles adorning her face just like Mike, but unlike Mike her features weren’t sharp at all. Her face was so _soft_ looking El briefly wondered what it would feel like held in El’s hands, but she quickly shoves that thought back were it came from and ignored her quickened heart rate. 

It’s just adrenaline for the upcoming fight she tells herself. 

_(And she almost believes it.)_

Max’s eyes were a pale blue like Nancy’s and Dustin’s but they shined with something different from theirs, El had no idea what it was but it oddly reminded her of Mike, _again_. She didn’t look strong like Nancy but she looked just as hardened, like she’s trying to appeared more confident than she was. 

Max radiated heat, not the warmth Lucas and Dustin send, no this heat is piercing, undeniable and it _burns_.

There was probably a thousand things about Max that El’s thoughts could dwell on. Like the fire that blazed behind her eyes, that she wasn’t even trying to extinguish, or the way that even inside she had that weird board thing tucked under her arm, clinging to it like her life depended on it, and maybe it did who knows? Certainly not El. But no all El’s brain could seem to muster while looking at this girl, this girl that she was supposed to be jealous of, that she was supposed to _hate_. 

The only thing she could seem to think was pretty,_ she’s so goddamn pretty._

And honestly what is El supposed to do with that? She has bigger things to worry about than this pretty girl in front of her that she doesn’t even know but is making her heart flip around in her chest like some rabid animal. 

So she does the only thing she can in that moment, she ignores her, and ignores the flash of hurt in the girls -_ Max, no wait the girl -_ eyes before its masked with utter indifference _(day 77’s word of the day)_. 

But El can not dwell on this _(or a lot of things apparently)_ though as she walks up to Joyce and she’s wrapped in another bone crushing hug that this time can only be described as motherly. She’s back to that comfortable warm feeling, not the blazing fire that radiates from Max. 

And from then on El doesn’t pay another thought to the pretty girl named Max

_ (not if she can help it that is)_. 


	2. Connected.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After she closed the gate El was spent, she had nothing left in her to even stay awake and so she didn’t. 
> 
> She vaguely remembers Hop carrying her slack body back to their truck, and she thought (rather deliriously) that for such a strong man his arms were very soft and gentle, like he was carrying precious china that could break at any too harsh jostle.
> 
> And then the world was dark again for awhile until she hazily remembers being carried back into the Byers’ house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its finally here! Chapter 2. I hope you enjoy this chapter, its quite a bit longer than the first introductory chapter, and its less of a recap (tho there is some recaps in there to again stay in canon storyline) so now my writing and storytelling really gets tested!

A lot happens after El officially meets Max. El closed the gate, and it almost killed her. Meanwhile, the demodogs _(as Dustin over excitedly informed her they were called, much to the groans of everyone else)_ and Mindflayer almost killed all of her friends.

_(and the pretty girl she definitely was not thinking about._) 

After she closed the gate El was spent, she had nothing left in her to even stay awake and so she didn’t. 

She vaguely remembers Hop carrying her slack body back to their truck, and she thought _(rather deliriously_) that for such a strong man his arms were very soft and gentle, like he was carrying precious china that could break at any too harsh jostle.

And then the world was dark again for awhile until she hazily remembers being carried back into the Byers’ house. 

El woke up the first time about an hour later, asleep on the Byers' couch, when Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce and Will returned.

She looked around briefly and saw that Hop was sitting on the chair next to her _(probably watching over her, she thinks)_ he looked startled liked maybe he had dozed off for a bit too, El hopes he had as he definitely deserved some rest.

Dustin, Lucas, and the pretty girl named Max were all sitting at the dining room table talking in quiet whispers about who knows what, and El pointedly ignores the hurt feeling that rises in her throat at the look of adoration the boys give the pretty girl.

Steve was sitting_ (well that is if you could count his crumpled form sitting) _at the other end of the couch. El remembers after they made it to the Byers' that Hop had decided the most injured got the couch, which meant El and Steve. _(Mike very much disproved of this, but considering everyone else, including El, agreed he was vastly outnumbered.)_

And Mike was sitting on the floor underneath her. He hadn't left her side since she got here. That is, until Jonathan stepped into the Byers residence holding the limp body of Will.

At the sight of him Mike was off of the floor and by his side in record speed. He looked terrified and on the verge of tears but Joyce just put a comforting hand on his shoulder and whispered softly "He's okay. Just sleeping.". Mike nodded but still didn't leave Will's side. Mike softly pushed some of Will’s hair out of his face and smiled lightly with a small tint of red appearing on his cheeks that El didn't understand. He had this look in his eyes that El knew very well, because thats how he looked at her.

Now that she was a little more awake and could think more clearly El did a quick survey of everyone's appearances and injuries. 

Will was unconscious still. Without his shirt on El briefly caught sight of a giant red burn mark that was appearing on his side and her stomach churned uncomfortably.

Dustin was seeming to have some odd reaction to something he was sprayed with while in the tunnels _(the dangerous tunnels they entered to try and help her she reminded herself). _

Lucas looked shaken to his core, and not because of the demodogs, but from something he wasn’t mentioning but the pretty gi-_Max_ seemed to understand on a deeper level than El was currently capable of. 

Mike looked physically unharmed _(though mentally he's surely going through the works)_, thank god, as did Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce and much to El’s relief Hop. 

But Steve, the boy Nancy and Jonathan’s age who apparently has a complicated relationship with them that El didn’t understand, and the boy who had risked his life multiple times to save her friends, looked downright _awful_. 

So awful that Nancy screamed when she saw him and Jonathan almost dropped Will’s sleeping form. 

Hop had tried to convince him to go to the hospital when they had first arrived an hour ago but he insisted that he was fine _(although El guessed that he would say that no matter if it were true or not, because it was definitely not)._

Still Hop told Stevein no uncertain terms that he was to stay here with everyone else tonight to at least make sure he doesn’t die in his sleep from a concussion, and to allow Dustin's mom look over his injuries tomorrow to decide if he really did need to go to the hospital, and after some resistance from Steve and even more pleading from Dustin, Steve finally agreed. Which is how he had ended up on the couch with El. 

Now that Nancy and Jonathan were here though the argument was in full swing again.

"Steve what the fuck!" Nancy screamed when Steve told her he was not in fact going to the hospital.

Hop yelled a slightly panicked "hey, language!" while glancing at El, trying decide if she had heard the curse word.

To which Nancy just replied, rather hilariously El thinks, "oh, bite me." without ever even looking away from the slightly embarrassed Steve. 

"I'm fine Nance I swear-" Steve had tried again, slurring his words and swaying a bit but it was Jonathan who cut him off this time, still holding the sleeping Will.

"Oh fine my ass! Look at yourself, you look like one good hit away from being dead!" Jonathan exclaimed angrily even though he looked positively terrified, Nancy hit his arm at this and gave him a pointed glare. Jonathan deflated a little and red rose around his face.

But El thought he had a point, Steve did look very close to death, and his inability to even sit up properly wasn't helping this appearance. Apparently El wasn't the only one who agreed as soon there was a chorus of agreements coming from all around the room. Steve was now avoiding all eye contact and was staring a little dazed at a random spot on the carpet, with every moment passing he looked less and less like he was here on the same plane of existence as everyone else.

Joyce though seems to have taken pity on Steve as she exclaims calmly. "How about this, I will take Steve into the kitchen and examine him for any immediately life threatening injuries, Nancy you can come and assist me, and Jonathan you go and put Will down in his room so he can rest. And we will just go from there."

A brief moment passes before everyone begrudgingly agrees. Joyce smiled to herself, clearly proud to bring some order to the chaos, and went to Steve's side, followed closely by Nancy. Together they helped him up off the couch _(which proved quite difficult considering Steve was currently unable to hold himself up and also seemed to be slipping out of consciousness, again.) _and quickly to the dining table, where Dustin, Lucas and Max had just vacated, and laid him down on-top of the table.

Despite having orders Jonathan just stood completely still watching the ordeal, with an unreadable expression on his face. And Will for his part, had not stirred even once since his arrival. Everyone was watching Steve, concern evident on all their faces. Well, everyone besides Mike who hadn't even so much as looked away from Will since he got here. 

Joyce tries to ask Steve exactly what happened and what hurts but all that comes out of Steve's mouth is garbled gibberish and some blood, Nancy is trying to hold back her tears as she holds on to his hand for dear life. 

And then Dustin steps forward "I can help. I can tell you what happened." he says softly, but El can see the pain and sadness in his eyes.

Joyce lets out a sigh of relief and beckons him to her side.

"Max's brother Billy came looking for her," He starts, El looks over at the pretty girl for the first time in awhile and sees that she is forcibly holding back tears and looks guilty.

Dustin continues "Billy got mad at Max for lying to him and then ... he tried to attack Lucas," as if all working on a singular hive mind everyone _(besides Mike who was **still **looking at Will and only Will, El briefly wonders if he even knows what happening outside of Will.) _simultaneously turned to look at Lucas, who was looking at the floor. Something clicks in El brain and she thinks ah, so that's why Lucas had looked so shaken.

"Steve pushed Billy off of Lucas and got a few good punches in before Billy grabbed a plate and smashed it against Steve's head," Nancy let out a small shriek at this and quickly put her hand than wasn't holding Steve over her mouth. El saw Jonathan once again have to re-adjust his grip on Will like he was worried his arms were about to give out from under him. And even Steve, who was barely there conscious wise, made a pained noise and attempted to raise his hand to his head, presumedly where the plate had been shattered, but his hand didn’t make it very far before it collapsed back on the table with a loud thud. Dustin looked down at Steve sadly before continuing.

"and after that he didn't have much of a chance." Dustin looked like he was desperately trying not to cry but a few tears slipped anyways. He quickly wiped his face before continuing.

"Billy punched him again and he fell to the ground, then he kicked him a few times in the ribs and Steve was starting to lose consciousnesses, but-" the tears were streaming down his face now and Dustin paused as he desperately tried to pull himself together. Joyce pulled him into a comforting hug, but she was crying too, softly and less noticeably but it was still there. "but he just kept punching him and punching him and _punching him,_ blood was shooting everywhere and we were all screaming but he wouldn't stop." Dustin's voice broke on that last word and he couldn't continue anymore, so the pretty girl stepped up instead. She had an impossibly hard expression on her face that looked practiced. 

"So, I took the syringe you guys left behind that was filled with the sedative we gave Will to sleep, and I stabbed him in the neck with it." Max exclaimed, there were a few gasps heard around the room from everyone who wasn't there to witness this. She smirked at everyone's expressions but it didn't reach her eyes, her pretty blue eyes that looked so so broken. She continued after a moment.

"he didnt knock out immediately though, because he's considerably larger than Will, so before he passed out I took Steve’s nail bat and threatened him castrate him until he promised to leave us alone from now on." She looked genuinely pleased with herself _(El wasn’t sure exactly what some of those words meant but she guess by the reactions of everyone around her, it wasn’t good)._

Nancy and Jonathan just looked at her in shock, Dustin and Lucas looked at her in admiration, Joyce looked like she was trying to seem disapproving but El could see that she looked a little proud, Hop looked amused, and Mike wasn’t looking at all. Steve gave what sounded something akin to a “hell yeah!” And attempted to give her a high five but it went about as well as his last attempted movement did so Max picked up his hand for him and high fived it with a dramatic sigh and Steve gave a very toothy and very bloody grin. 

It was quite for a moment before someone finally spoke again, it was Hop. “So ... you knocked your broth-“ 

“He is not my brother!” Max cut him off in a burst of anger, Hop looked mildly taken aback before Max’s cheeks reddened and she sheepishly apologized.

”-right so your not brother, you knocked him out and then what?” Hop asked slowly. 

“We already told you we went into the tunnels to help you!” Mike spat out. Thats the first El’s heard him speak since before she fell asleep, and even now he’s never looked away from Will, and El can see by the look on everyone else faces that she’s not the only one who’s noticed this. 

Hop sighed deeply and put his head in his hands and started rubbing his temples. “Yes I know, but what did you do with Max’s not brother?” He asked tiredly. 

“Billy.” Dustin tried to offer helpfully with a wide grin but Hop just looked at him slightly annoyed before deadpanning “_yea_. Billy. Where’s he?” 

An awkward silence fills the room as Dustin, Lucas and Max all share a guilty look. 

“Well ....”

”You see-“

”So here’s the thing-“ 

They all tried at once before abruptly stopping again and looking incredulously at each other, their faces looked like they were having a conversation but there were no words and El was extremely confused. More awkward silence filled the room while the three of them continued to talk without words, the adults and teens are getting a little fed up and it seems like Hop’s about to break and ask again before Mike sighs deeply and dramatically before stating. 

“He was still out when we got here so we tied him up, put some duck tape over his mouth, and put him in the backseat of his car with his keys in the ignition. We heard him leave a few minutes before El and Hopper got here.” He stated. When he mentioned her he briefly looked up at El for the first time in literal hours and gave her a small smile before immediately turning back to Will. 

It was quiet for a moment as everyone processed this information. 

“.... Okay, so what’d would you like me to do about him?” Hop asked, he was looking at Lucas, Max and Steve but they just stared at him quizzically _(well all except Steve, whom El was pretty sure was unconscious again.). _

_“_What are you talking about?” Max finally asked. Hop just sighed again. “Do you want me to arrest him, are you going to press charges?” He asked. Max and Lucas both looked incredibly confused. And Steve was definitely unconscious again, Nancy was gently caressing his face barely paying attention to anything else in the world.

“Can you ... do that?” Max asked, her voice quieter than El had ever heard it before _(granted thats not a large data pool to average from, but something about Max tells El that timid and quiet are not traits you’ll see a lot in her)._

“Of course I can do that. He assaulted Harrington here, you said he tried to attack Sinclair that’s attempted assault of a minor.” Hop said as if this was obvious. “Of course you will have to press charges and there will most likely be a trial of some sort so thats up to you guys.”

Lucas was deep in thought while staring at the floor, Max looked like she’d seen a ghost.

She looked like she was contemplating asking something but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, finally her curiosity seemed to win out as she spoke again.

”um chief hopper, sir?” She asked unsure.

“You can call me just Hopper.” He informed her with a small comforting smile, she smiled lightly in return.

“Okay, Hopper. I get why you asked Lucas and Steve what they wanted to do, but ... why did you ask me?” She looked almost like she didn’t want to know the answer. But judging by the immediate shift in the air, everyone else did. Everyone seemed to hold their breath while awaiting Hop’s answer, and Hop looked like he really wanted some coffee.

“Look kid, I don't want to assume anything,” he started out gently. “But from what I’m hearing it doesn't sound like this is something someone would just do randomly, which leads me to believe this is not the first time Billy has .. lashed out.” He says choosing his words very carefully, he paused a moment to assess Max, who was staring very intently at the floor.

”and if this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, all my police training and experience has taught me that usually some of the first victims of abuse are family.” He finished sounding strained. The tension in the air was growing thicker with every passing second.

And then out of the silence the tiniest voice spoke up. “I am not a _victim_,” a pause “but ... I’ll think about it.”

And like that some of the tension eased. Hop just nodded silently and then turned and looked at Lucas expectedly. Lucas looked unsure before finally replying. “I don't know, I think I’ll want to talk to my parents first. If that’s okay.”

Hop looked gentler than El can remember seeing him. “Of course thats okay kid, we have to wait to hear from Harrington anyways. You kids just let me know what you decide.” Hop got up then and walked close to Max, he handed her his business card and whispered “no matter what you decide, feel free to call me if you ever need help, okay?” Max nodded gently and that was that. 

“Okay let’s finish examining Harrington.” Hop said with a clap of his hands and the air went back to normal. And everyone’s eyes were on Steve again _(still not Mike’s but El is not thinking about that right now.) _

_“_Okay first we need to clean all the blood off of his face so we can see what damage is underneath, then were going to need to get a bright light of some sort to look at the gash on his head to see if its fractured, then we need to check and make sure none of his ribs are broken.” Joyce announced.

She turned to look at her team of helpers and started handing out jobs, Hop is to check out Steve’s skull, she is going to assess his ribs because apparently she knows what broken ribs feel like _(Hop looked like he wanted to question why, but Joyce just gave a look that clearly said “not right now.”)_, and Nancy is to clean his face because she has the gentlest hands.

Everyone starts working and Joyce moves to get some ice out of the freezer for Steve’s ribs. Dustin starts to protest but its too late, Joyce opened up the freezer door and let out an unworldly scream she will deny later. Everyone besides Dustin is alarmed by the dead Demodog in the freezer. The good news is the scream woke up Steve, so he’s still alive, the bad news is Dustin may not be for much longer. He's standing in a corner mumbling embarrassed apologies. Joyce just sighs and says they will deal with this later.

She bends down to Steve to inform him of what they are doing and asks him if its okay that they take off his shirt to assess his ribs, Steve tries to nod but immediately regrets the decision and lets out a cry of pain. Hop starts quickly examining his head, while Nancy starts to, as softly as she can, wipe away the blood from his face. She’s whispering things to him that El cant hear but it seems to have made him smile a little _(however pained that smile is, its genuine)._

Hop determines that Steve’s head is not in fact fractured but that he most definitely has a concussion, Nancy finds that Steve’s nose is broken, he has a busted lip, and most of his face is just a giant bruise, and Joyce finds that he does in fact have a fractured rib, but its not broken which means he should be fine to wait to go to the hospital until tomorrow. Nancy cries and hugs Steve closely. It’s now that Joyce notices that Jonathan is still standing in the living room watching everything while holding the _still _sleeping Will. 

“Jonathan! I told you to put him to bed!” Joyce exclaims, Jonathan looks alarmed at the sudden attention on him, he tries to argue and gesture to Steve, which is difficult when both of his hands are occupied. “I want to help!” He exclaims. 

“And you can, once you put Will up.” Joyce says and even El knows that that tone means its not up for discussion. So with one last concerned look at Steve, Jonathan starts making his way to Will’s room.

El got up and followed Jonathan as he carried Will into his room and onto his bed so he could get the rest he desperately deserved. Mike tried exceptionally hard to be allowed in the room _(many tears were shed and words were yelled)_, to no avail. Jonathan told him in that same tone Joyce had just used that Will needed _rest, _and then ushered Mike out of the room before closing the door behind him.

Although El and Will had never officially spoken, outside of the one instance when she found him in the upside down last year, El felt drawn to Will in way she couldn’t explain. The same way she was drawn to Mike. And the same way her thoughts seemed to be drawn to the pretty girl with the long red hair. 

After Jonathan carefully set Will down onto his bed El moved around to his side and looked down at him. In the words of Dustin he looked like shit, but she guesses, so did she. And so did everyone else for that matter. 

El could hear Nancy in the dining room sobbing lowly and Steve trying to console her while she simultaneously reprimands him for being “_such an idiot, Steve Harrington!”,_ and Jonathan is very clearly listening in with a very concerned look.

Will looks like a ghost, so pale he’s almost translucent _(day 160’s word of the day)_. He has dried sweat and tears all over his body and so many bruises. El notices that without his shirt on Will has multiple old scars that under normal circumstances are probably barely visible anymore but with how thin and sickly he is currently they stand out against his skin like neon signs. 

El doesn’t even want to imagine what she must look like right now. She can still feel the dried blood that lies under her nose and ears (that one’s new), and her exhaustion is rapidly catching up with her once again, but she can’t seem to make herself leave Will.

He needs someone by his side right now probably about as much as she needs someone by hers. 

Eventually El convinces Jonathan that both her and Will will be fine but that she is not leaving, so he goes and gets her some blankets and pillows to lay beside Will’s bed, and with one final worried look he shuts the door and leaves. 

El lets out a sigh she didn’t realize she’d been holding at the silence that finally befalls her. She is so drained she just wants to sleep forever. 

Before she lays back down she looks again at Will, who despite how awful his outward appearance seems, almost looks peaceful in his slumber. Like he’s finally been set free from something _(and it takes El a moment to remember that he **has**)_, she smiles softly to herself and gives Will’s hand what was supposed to be a quick squeeze of comfort.

However as soon as her hand touches Will’s a shock courses through them, almost like electricity, and his eyes pop open. At first he seems terrified _(and if she’s honest, El was a little unnerved as well)_ but after frantically searching around he seems to realize that he is in his room. His eyes finally find El’s and there’s a moment of confusion before the realization of who she is sets in. 

El wasn’t sure exactly what she expected to happen the first time she properly met Will but him immediately _(and tearfully)_ pulling her into another crushing hug wasn’t it. Out of all the hugs she had received that day _(including Mike’s but she won’t tell him that)_ Will’s was the best, the most comforting. There was just _something _different about Will’s embrace.

He felt like a piece of her coming home, the same as Kali did. And in that moment El knew they were destined to have met, and they were destined to _stay_.

El realized that they were now just holding each other and sobbing. She had no idea how long they stayed this way but when they finally calmed down and parted El felt at peace for the first time since she left the cabin days ago. Her heart felt at rest, comfortable, _warm_.

Still holding each other’s hands for dear life Will scooted over in his bed and wordlessly offered El the now unaccompanied space, to which she gladly took and layed down right next to him. 

As El finally let her eyes drift closed again feeling much happier than when she fell asleep earlier tonight a voice cut through the silence for the first time in what felt like hours. 

_"Thank you El, for keeping them safe while I was gone.” El smiled loosely before replying._

_“Thank you for keeping them happy while **I** was gone.” She felt Will chuckle lightly against her shoulder and that was that. _

It wasn’t until later that she realized neither of them had actually spoken. 

Somehow she could feel Will without needing to touch him, hear him without needing to speak, and see him without needing to be there. 

El always knew she could do this with everyone while in her void, what she didn’t know was that her and Will didn’t need a void, they just were. 

Connected.

As simple as that. 

El decided not to think about it right this moment, it was something they could figure out later when they both were rested and recharged, for now they needed sleep. 

And so finally El once again drifted off to sleep. Happy for in the first time in what feels like forever. And if she ends up dreaming about a brother and sister with powers and connections she doesn’t understand but desperately needs, and more often than not pretty girls with long red hair and fiery eyes then, well, who can blame her. Really. 

—

The next time El wakes up the alarm clock in Will’s room reads 5-3-2 a.m and she’s so thirsty she can’t even remember the last time she had something to drink. Soda, at Kali’s, over 24 hours ago. 

El very carefully tries to remove herself from Will without waking him, but to no avail. He stirs a little and questioning hazel eyes meet hers. 

“_It’s okay, I am going for water. Shh sleep.” She thinks in the softest voice she can and Will just nods sleepily in response._

She’s about to trek out of the room when she has a thought, if its been this long since she’s had something to drink, how long has it been since Will has drank anything? 

“_Will?” She asks, hoping he hadn’t already fallen asleep_

_“Hmm?” The reply is soft, barely there but since its in her head she doesn’t have to struggle to hear it._

_“I’m going to bring you water, okay?” _ It wasn’t really a question, she figured that despite the actual answer of whenever the last time he’d drank was he could most definitely use some water. 

“_h’kay._” It was more of a grunt than anything else but El would take it. 

El makes her way out Will’s room, trying to be as silent as possible so not to wake anyone who may be sleeping.

As she reached the living room she found an amusing sight in the middle of the Byers’ floor of three preteen boys all spread out in a dog pile that seemed to be moving up and down with their breathing and even snoring a little. El smiles softly to herself at the sight.

As she starts to turn around and make her way to the kitchen her eyes catch sight of the flaming red hair she couldn’t help dreaming about and her heart caught in her throat. 

Max was asleep on the couch by herself, and as much as El _wanted_ to hate her for taking up the one comfy space that could have been used by more deserving people, she looked at the pretty girls face and she looked so downright distraught, like her whole world had just crumbled around her. El thought, maybe it had. And in that moment El couldn’t hate her, she couldn’t even dislike her. No instead El’s heart ached for the red head and some deep part of her wanted to hold her close like she had Will. To offer some form of comfort to the girl and wipe all of that sadness off of her soft face. 

El shook her head as if trying to physically remove the thoughts from her brain.

—

El had just finished drinking her second glass of water, and was getting ready to get her third and Will’s to head back to his room when she heard movement from behind her. Her stomach dropped over what the sound could be. El whirled around with her hands out ready to decimate whatever demo-creature was behind her. But when she looked there nothing but the soft face of a terrified girl with her hands in the air trying to show innocence _... Max .. of course. _

“WoAH don’t shoot!” Max laughed out, however forced it was, the sound eased most of the tension that had swept into El’s body. El didn’t reply just continued to stare at the girl in front of her with a confused expression, waiting for her to speak more. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” Max whispered lightly, trying to ease whatever tension they couldn’t seem to escape from. 

“I am not afraid of you.” El spat out in a harsh whisper, though she had absolutely no idea why. But this girl made her skin boil uncomfortably, and she looked at El with such a ferocity that El didn’t know what else to do but deflect. They didn’t need to be friends, and El had no intention of it, she just wanted to forget the pretty girl ever existed and go back to thinking about things other than long red hair and soft blue eyes surround by freckles. 

The girl winced slightly at El’s abruptness but quickly recovered and went back to her overly charming smile. 

“No, right, of course I wouldn’t scare you. That’s not what meant you know, I mean I’m sure _nothing_ scares you I mean why would it, you have fucking superpowers an-“ the girl’s rambling was rising in volume probably at the same rate that her cheeks were reddening, and El was afraid if she went on any longer she would wake up the whole house. 

_(And she tried to ignore the thought that said she wouldn’t mind because the girls voice sounds like honey and she doesn’t want it to end)_

“What are you doing here?” El interrupts her abruptly. The girl staggers for a moment clearly confused either by the sudden outburst or the question itself. 

“I stayed here after helping last night? It was too late to go home and anyways I really don’t want to know what’s waiting there for me when I do” she says like it’s obvious. 

Okay so she was confused by the question got it, darn El’s inability to communicate her thoughts properly.

“No, here in kitchen not here in gen-a-rel.” El replied, sounding out the syllables of general to make sure she pronounced it right. A small look of relief washed over Max’s face as well as another tint of red in her cheeks, El momentarily wondered what that was.

She had seen it before whenever Mike looked at her, or whenever Dustin looked at Lucas but she didn’t know what it meant. But before she could ask her musings were caught off by the much quieter and almost frail voice of Max, contrasting her previous loud volume. 

“Oh! Right sorry, um I heard you in here” she paused when El raised her eyes questioningly a her before continuing.

“Um I’m a really light sleeper-“ something flashes through her eyes as she says that that if El didn’t know any better, which chances are she probably didn’t, looked sad.

“- but anyways i just wanted to check and see what the noise was, you know make sure we weren’t about to all be murdered in our sleep or anything-“ she strains out another forced laugh and her eyes start darting around the room like they’re not quite sure what they’re looking for, and El sympathizes, begrudgingly _(day 301’s word of the day)_, she too often finds herself wondering if that everyday noise she hears is actually her luck finally running out. 

“Anyways, I saw it was you and I guess I just ... wanted to .. make sure you were ... okay?” Max finishes like its a question, maybe her way of actually asking if El was okay, and the redness in her cheeks is growing stronger by the minute and by now matches her hair _(her pretty pretty hair)_, and El briefly wonders if she’s sick or something. 

“Oh.” Is all El manages to reply, and an awkward silence fills them again. 

“I am fine.” El pushes out, its strained and not at all true and judging by the look Max gives her she knows it too. 

El doesn’t quite understand why despite all of her instincts telling her to pull this girl close and never let go she’s doing the exact opposite, making sure that no matter what this wall she’s built stays in place and growing stronger.

“Okay, well goodnight then.. I guess.” Max replies meekly and turns back around and plops down on the couch without another word. She looks impossibly tiny curled up on the couch, like she’s trying to appear smaller, disappear into the couch completely. El watches her go That feeling burrows back in El’s chest but she just grabs her and Will’s waters and heads back to Will’s room.

While walking down the hallway she sees that Jonathan’s door is cracked open, and decides to look inside and make sure he’s okay. She finds not just Jonathan, but Nancy and Steve as well all huddled on Jonathan’s bed. Steve is in the middle and Nancy and Jonathan are on either side of him, Nancy seems to be wrapped around his waist and Jonathan is keeping a good few inches distance, but they all look happy. 

El smiles to herself, she loves seeing people happy.

She makes her way back to Will’s room, sees that the clock now says 6-4-6 a.m. She places Will’s water on his dresser for him to find when he wakes up and then goes and curls right back up to him again resuming their earlier position. Will instinctively wraps around her and she once again drifts back to sleep. Hopefully this time it lasts longer. 

_(And hopefully no more dreams of red hair and blue eyes.) _

_(Only one of those is successful.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhh! I am so excited to finally post this, ive had chapters 1-3 written since before i ever posted the first one and its been so difficult not posting this early!!!! It’s literally only 2 am on Tuesday but that counts right??? I say it counts. Anyways i hope y’all like this chapter, its a little scarier posting this one rather than the last one because this is the first of many thats going to test my abilities to go not only out of canon to fill in the gaps of season but where everything will still fit into the canon timeline because yes this fic will have season 3, tho some things will be changed. I had a lot of fun writing this and i hope it all makes sense! I also i apologize if some of the dialogue is awkward, that comes from the fact that aside from just being bad at writing dialogue the way i speak in real life has been describes as stilted and odd so i think some of that bleeds into my writing. Also after rewatching s2 in preparation for this (and also reading some other Fics) i realized how much i needed to write people actually loving and caring for Steve Harrington because we never got to see the aftermath of that fight! There’s a bit of Stoncy and Byler in here and also just a hint of henclair that if you blink you can miss it but I’m hoping to build upon those relationships in later chapters, as well as Jopper. But keep in mind this whole fic is in El’s POV and is first and foremost and El&Will sibling fic and Elmax fic, so the only real development can be what El sees. Now in the case of Byler there will be way more of that once we reach Will’s fic but that wont be until after El’s is done (probably????? But who knows maybe ill do them simultaneously). Also ayyy look Elmax’s first actual conversation, as much as i want them to immediately be friends i have to stay with canon and keep with the tension, at least for now. I hope you enjoy how I’m choosing to write these characters ad these storylines because I’m putting a lot of thought into what the best way to write this is since i know i will be incorporating season 3, but writing it as before that so filling in and adding what happens in between while keeping in mind what we all know will happen later but keeping it shocking enough that you cant just guess what this fic will be. It’s a bit stressful but I’m really excited and i hope y’all are too!
> 
> Anyways here the sneak peak for next weeks chapter!
> 
> —
> 
> “What more is there to talk about.” El replies. She’s still exhausted, this time its more emotional than physical. She misses Kali and she doesn’t want to sit here and listen to Hop tell her how stupid it was to go looking for her or how she shouldn’t be around someone of her influence. It’s her turn to sigh, and Hop finally removes his face from his hands and looks at her again. He doesn’t look angry, just tired, exactly how she feels. This is why they work, she thinks.
> 
> He’s quite for a moment, looking contemplative (day 56’s word of the day) before he finally speaks again. But its resolved, almost like he doesn’t want to know the answer.
> 
> “Are you going to go back to her?” And, wow. Out of all things El imagined Hop would ask her about Kali and about her trip in general that definitely was not one of them. She contemplates this for a moment before replying.
> 
> “I .. didn’t know I could.” She says slowly and carefully. Hop laughs half-hearteningly and a small smile appears, but its pained, sad almost.
> 
> —


	3. Home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sitting here at a banged up table, surrounded by equally banged up people, who despite all the trauma they had all been through both in life and in the last 24 hours were sitting here with nothing but happy smiles and gleaming eyes, El thought that yea. This was it. This was the life she had dreamed of, this was the feeling she had been missing for so much of her life. This was happiness. El had never felt so full in her entire life, and it wasn’t from the food (although, that definitely did help).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BUCKLE UP BUDDIES THIS IS GONNA BE A REALLL LONG ONE.
> 
> Hi so I know I said this was only going to be posted on Tuesday’s to keep with a schedule BUT I’m currently under threat of Hurricane Dorian, and so I have no idea if ill even have internet to post this chapter on Tuesday and since I already had this written i though, eh why not just post it a few days early!
> 
> Also this chapter is long enough to be cut in half and turned into two chapters (literally) and i almost DID but I decided I’d just let y’all have the complete 12,000 words. (That also gives me a buffer in case i do in fact lose power and its not back by next week so i cant post chapter 4) 
> 
> Anyways enough of this, I hope y’all enjoy this latest chapter!

El wakes up a few hours later to a bright light peering through her eyelashes. She groans at the sudden intrusion, still feeling drained even after her sleep. She shifts slightly and feels that Will is still there next to her, she wonders if he's still asleep and begrudgingly opens one of her eyes just a tiny bit to check and see. She is met with hazel eyes shining back to her brightly and that comfort and happiness gives her enough strength to open both her eyes the remainder of the way. Will smiles at her and theres an unexplainable warmth radiating from him that makes her heart feel full. She smiles back at him contently before sitting up slightly to get a better look at him. Despite everything he looks positively happy, he’s not as pale as he was the night before and his face looks rested. This boy siting in front of her is a complete contrast to the body that Jonathan had carried in only a few hours ago. Suddenly a thought appears in her head that isn’t hers. 

_“Good morning.” Will’s soft voice echoes through her head, the feeling is still so strange. Like a tingling sensation. Like when its really cold and you sit in front of a fire place, or hold a warm cup of hot chocolate in your hands. El cant tell if this feeling is coming from their connection or from Will himself. _

_“Morning.” El replies happily. It’s odd, but she thinks she could get used to this form of communication._

_“What is the time?” She asks after a moment, not wanting to get up yet to check Will’s clock. She wants to stay in this warm bubble as long as she can. _

_Will quickly checks his wrist watch (which El notices looks exactly like the watch Mike used to wear, that he had let her borrow) she sees Will’s cheeks redden slightly but before she can question it the tingling is back._

_“11:17 a.m.” Will informs. She just hums in response._

El still feels exhausted, but its not dire anymore more like when you’re woken up early on the weekends and your whole body aches to go back to sleep because it was so comfortable. She had just started to wonder if anyone else in the house was awake when she heard mumbled voices coming from outside of Will’s bedroom door. She closes her eyes tightly to try and listen to what the voices are saying. 

“-but cant I just go check on them? Please?” She hears a desperate voice ask. Mike, she knows that voice better than she knows her own, and she can feel Will smiling to himself.

“No, they need to rest, you can wait until they wake up.” Another annoyed voice answers, ah Jonathan. 

“-but!” Mike tries to plea but Jonathan cuts him off again with an “end of discussion.” And El hears Mike sigh deeply, and then what sounds suspiciously like someone sliding down a wall. 

El opens up her eyes again and looks at Will and they both just start giggling uncontrollably, trying to be silent. 

_“I think someone is waiting for us.” Will thinks through their giggles, which just makes them laugh harder. El considers this for a moment before remembering Mike’s face as he watched Will, and only Will, last night. She smiles a little before adding. _

_“More like someone is waiting for you.” Will stops giggling at that and his body goes rigid, El wonders for a moment if she said something wrong before she looks and sees that Will’s face is bright red and he’s radiating even more than usual. _

_“What would make you say that?” Will asks sheepishly, and El rolls her eyes to herself. _

_“You did not see him. When you were sleep. He looked at you, no one else, not even me. And he looked....” El stopped for a moment trying to find the right word to describe the look Mike had last night, she could feel Will hanging onto her every word. Finally it came to her. “Fond. He looked fond.” _

_Something spurred in her stomach, a feeling that wasn’t quite hers but that she had felt before ... Max?_

_“He was probably just worried. I’m sure he misses you way more.” Will finally said, and though El didn’t believe it she decided to let it go this time. Besides what did she know?_

_“I think we should get up now.” Will’s voice cut through again. El sighed deeply but she knew he was right. As much as she wanted to they couldn’t stay in their warmth cocoon forever. Eventually they would have to get up and face the cold world again._

They both got out of Will’s bed, El stretched her muscles out for a moment, forgetting how sore she had felt from yesterday. Will looked at her briefly before motioning for her to come to him, she did without question. Will got a piece of tissue out of a box and dipped it lightly into the water cup El had left on his dresser for him, he then turned back to her and started gently cleaning the blood off of her face. After a few minutes of scrubbing and cleaning he gave her a pleased smile. 

_“Thank you.” She thought to him. And squeezed his hand in gratitude. _

Never letting go of each other’s hands El and Will made their way to the door of Will’s room.

As soon as Will opened up the door they were met with the sight of Mike who was sitting against the wall in front of Will’s door waiting for them. He looked up at them and before El could even think a thought Mike had wrapped Will in his arms and was squeezing onto him like he was afraid if he lessened his grip Will would disappear altogether. Will was still holding onto El’s hand but he wrapped his other arm around Mike just as tightly and El could feel his heart soaring. They sat there for a moment just breathing each other in, El looked around and saw that pretty much the entire house was watching them closely from the kitchen, with more fond expressions on all of their faces.

Another moment passed and El saw Mike try to wipe away a couple of tears that had fallen onto Will’s back, and then he finally pulled away, but instead of letting go fully he just grabbed ahold of Will’s other hand. Mike then looked at El and gave her his signature smile that made her stomach dance, with his other hand he wrapped her into a one armed hug as well. El closed her eyes tightly and tried to memorize the feeling of Mike’s arm around her and the feeling it gave her, and she thought that for some reason it didn’t feel any different than how Will’s hand feels in hers. It made her happy, happy enough for a few tears of her own to start prickling behind her eyes, but it wasn’t different. Mike pulled away from her much quicker than he had Will and shockingly that didn’t upset El, she just smiled brightly at him and then at Will. They all stood there, hands latched on, staring at each other for what felt like forever until a voice cut through their reverie _(day 322’s word of the day)_.

“Hey! Are you guys ever gonna join us for breakfast, or are you just gonna stand there staring at each other like a bunch of weirdos?” Dustin yelled from the kitchen, he sounded happy though and El really liked that sound. They all laughed lightly before turning to the kitchen and making their way to breakfast, neither Mike nor El ever let go of Will’s hands. 

As they approached the dining room where breakfast was being served El quickly looked around at the people who filled up Will’s home. Her eyes immediately found Hop first, he was leaning against the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in his hands, next to Joyce who was cooking something that smelled like bacon. They both had goofy smiles on their faces, and as El looked at Hop she saw that look again, _fond_. It made her happy. 

El’s eyes then drifted over to the table where Dustin was sitting next to Lucas and Max, oh right _Max_. El looks at her and blinks _once, twice, three times,_ before she’s back to her head count. The three of them were talking animatedly about something El didn’t recognize, but Lucas was gesturing wildly and the pretty girl Max was looking at him with that look again, _fond_. But unlike Hop this look didn’t make El happy, it made her skin boil. Her whole body tensed involuntarily but before she could think on it a comforting hand squeezed hers, she turned and met the concerned eyes of Will. And just like that the tension eased and she gave him a reassuring smile back. 

On the opposite end of the table was Jonathan, who was currently cutting up a plate of pancakes and bacon that was not in fact in front of him but in front of Steve. Steve looked worse than he had the last time El saw him, which she hadn’t thought was possible, the bruising on his face was darkening which made him look kind of like a blueberry. He wasn’t wearing a shirt but his whole chest was wrapped in bandages. But he looked happy, if not a little embarrassed. On Steve’s other side was Nancy, ah pretty Nancy, she looked softer than she had the night before. The three of them looked like they naturally went together, like a puzzle that had finally found its missing piece that had been lost under a couch for years. 

Joyce turned and looked at El, Will, and Mike and gave them a loving smile. 

“We have a wide array of options for breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, biscuits and more, consider it a breakfast buffet! Take your pick!” She told them enthusiastically. El didn’t know what a buff-aye was but if it meant copious amounts of food, then she was happy.

The three of them walked up to the counter with the food to choose their breakfast, it occurred to El that eventually they were going to have to let go of each other so they can eat. As if sensing El’s thoughts _(which yea okay is exactly what he did, but give El a break she’s still getting used to it)_ Will turned to her, gave her another reassuring hand squeeze before letting go of both her and Mike’s hands. El watched as Mike’s face fell at the loss of contact before he quickly shook the disappointment away and walked up to the food and started putting multiple pancakes on a plate. After getting his food Mike stood and waited for El and Will to get theirs. Will got eggs and bacon, and El got a little bit of everything, she hadn’t realized how hungry she even was until a mountain of food was staring at her. They all sat next to each other at the empty seats that were awaiting them at the Byers’ dining room table.

They didn’t say much while they ate, just listened to Dustin and Lucas’ ramblings as they had already finished their food. Despite her best efforts, El found herself continuously watching the pretty red-head on the other side of the table. A few times she had caught her staring and Max would give her an incredulous look that made El’s face feel all hot _(was she getting sick or something?) _and El would quickly avert her eyes back to someone else.

Sitting here at a banged up table, surrounded by equally banged up people, who despite all the trauma they had all been through both in life and in the last 24 hours were sitting here with nothing but happy smiles and gleaming eyes, El thought that yea. This was it. This was the life she had dreamed of, this was the feeling she had been missing for so much of her life. This was _happiness_. El had never felt so full in her entire life, and it wasn’t from the food _(although, that definitely did help)_. 

Eventually Steve successfully ate all of his food _(which was a much longer process than it should have been considering he seemed to be in great pain anytime he moved his face)_ and once he finished Jonathan and Nancy announced they were finally taking him to the hospital. Steve gave one final futile attempt at convincing them _he was fine_ but Nancy just gave him a look and that was that. It took about 20 minutes for them to actually get Steve in Jonathan’s car, and then they were off. 

Not long after they had left everyone else had finished eating and the kitchen cleanup began, which the adults refused any help with. The five party members and Max started making their way towards the living room to rest for a bit when Max glanced at the clock and seemed to finally realize what time it was. 

“Shit!” She hissed out under her breath, everyone turned to look at her in confusion but she was already going around the room collecting her belongings. 

“What are you doing?” Lucas asked as he followed her around the room. El, Will, and Mike all sat down on the couch together watching the red head storm around searching for something. As soon as they sat down their hands all seemed to find each other again. There was a magnetic pull between them, El used to think the pull was Mike but she knows better now, the pull is Will. 

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m looking for my stuff.” Max answered in a huff as she searched under a chair. Lucas was still following her around as she went, and Dustin was standing in the corner watching them both.

“But why?” Lucas asked incredulously. Max just sighed dramatically and gave him a pointed look. 

“Because _Lucas_, its late and I have to get home before my parents kill me.” Lucas gave her a terrified look but before he could say anything she just put her hands up and exclaimed “not literally!” Though even she didn’t look all that convinced.

Eventually Max yelled an “Ah Ha!” And appeared victorious from the hallway with her red jacket she had been wearing the night before. She quickly put it on and headed to the kitchen. Where Hop and Joyce were still cleaning, unaware of what was going on else where.

“Um, Miss Byers’?” Max asked in a small voice, like she was suddenly nervous.

Joyce jumped at the sudden noise and turned around and looked at her, before giving her a warm smile.

“Call me Joyce, honey.” Max smiled softly. 

“Okay, Joyce, um I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay here last night.” Joyce looked conflicted about something, like she was fighting inwardly about how to react.

“Of course honey, it was no trouble.” She supplies sweetly. 

Joyce looked over Max and seemed to take notice of the jacket she was wearing and the weird taped board thing tucked under her arms. She gave her a concerned look before asking. “Are you going somewhere?” 

Max’s cheeks reddened slightly and she quickly evaded eye contact. “Um, yea, I really need to head home, I don't want to worry my parents anymore.” Max replied. El didn’t know Max well _(or at all really)_ but something about the situation didn’t sit right in her chest, like worrying her parents wasn’t really the issue here. And judging by the look Joyce and Hop share, they don’t think so either. 

Joyce approaches Max slowly and carefully before crouching down to Max’s eye level.

“Honey I want you to know that its okay if you need to stay here for a while, okay? I don’t want you going back to a dangerous situation.” Max looked viscerally uncomfortable.

She hastily replied “no its fine I promise, I just need to get home.” 

Hop approached her now looking just as soft as he had last night. El wondered how such a large man could shrink himself down so much when the need arised.

“Hey kid, if its not safe at your house its okay not to go back. Especially with your _not_ brother there, after everything that happened last night. Maybe you should wait until we all figure out what to do with Billy.” Hop said as carefully as he could, but Max just shook her head violently. 

“No. I just. I really need to get home okay? It’s just gonna be worse the longer I’m gone.” She moves to put one hand on each of the adults shoulders like _she’s comforting them_.

“I’m going to be fine, I promise.” And before either of them have a chance to counter Max is waving goodbye to everyone but El and Mike and is out the door in seconds. Hop moves like he’s going to go after her but Joyce just puts a hand on his arm and stops him. 

“We have to trust that she knows what’s best in this situation.” Hop looks like he wants to object but instead just sighs and moves to get more coffee.

Joyce eventually ends the kids rest break by making Lucas and Dustin bury the dead demo-dog out in the woods _(Dustin tried to tell her that it was an important scientific discovery, but Joyce informed him that there was no way the government would let anyone get away with leaking that kind of information. Let alone a child.). _

While Dustin and Lucas were outside Will decided that he needed to shower to finally rid himself of everything that had happened. El was going to shower after him. 

That then left just El and Mike, alone for the first time in a year. It pained El to no end that without Will here, Mike and her just fell ... flat. They were staring at each other but it was awkward and neither truly seemed to know what to say.

Finally Mike spoke up. “I missed you. A lot, I know I’ve already said that but I just wanted to ... you know ... say it again?” He finished uncertainly. There was too much tension between them, too much time apart, too many feelings ignored, it was just too too much.

“I missed you too.” El replied. Mike just smiled and nodded and they were back in that awkward silence again. 

Mike tried a few more conversation starts, like talking about DnD, or movies the party had watched and were debating about, but they all fell short when he realized El had know idea what he was talking about, but El was happy just listening to him. So she told him this and his face lit up red and El still didn’t understand it. Thankfully though Mike listened and decided to explain to her Star Wars and they finally fell back into that familiarity again. Mike happily informed El that they would watch Star Wars together soon and El was just happy to be included. 

Will appeared a few minutes later, he looked clean not just in a physical way but he looked like he had finally scrubbed some of the darkness out of him, he looked peaceful again. El got up to go take her own shower and Will sat back down with Mike. As El walked towards the bathroom she heard Will and Mike immediately fall into discussion, they had bright smiles on their faces and were sitting incredibly close to each other, El wondered why her and Mike couldn’t have done that but she guesses, maybe, just maybe, a lot more had changed while she was gone than she had thought.

The shower was warm, so warm and it was such a nice change. It took awhile to get all of the gel out of her hair and makeup off of her face but finally she felt like herself again. Regretfully she had to turn off the water and re-enter the world. When she got out she found that Will had left one of his sweaters and and some pajama pants for her. They were just a little too big from where Will was taller than her, but they were surprisingly close in size. And to El’s delight his clothes smelled like him and they were just as warm as he was. El took a look in the tiny mirror that sat above the sink, her hair was already starting to curl again and her eyes were dark and purpling, she still needed a lot more sleep and rest before she would be 100% again. But she had never felt so content.

When she existed the bathroom though she found Hop, Joyce, Lucas and Dustin all in the living room now. Lucas and Dustin needed showers of their own as they were covered in dirt and sweat despite how cold it is outside. When she walked into the living room Hop stood up and announced that it was time they started heading back to the cabin. El was sad to leave the Byers’ home _(home not house)_ but she knew there was no point in arguing. Will and Mike also looked like they wanted to protest but Hop just looked at them with first a very serious look, it then melted into a small smile as he said “Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon. _I promise._”. And even El could tell that this was different than when he told her soon all those times before, this time he meant it.

And so they existed the home and at first El was shell-shocked by the cold outside, but she snuggled even further into Will’s sweater and quickly made her way to the truck. 

The whole way back to the cabin El kept her mind strictly trained on that tingling sensation, making sure that it wouldn’t fizzle out with distance. She smiled when they reached the cabin and she found that she could still feel Will’s happiness all this way out, and she guessed that meant there was no distance too far. They were connected, unlimited. 

—

The cabin is a wreck when they get there, heaters everywhere and a fire poker _(what’s the word for that again?)_ laying on the ground next to Hops pull out bed that’s lying in the middle of their cabin for some reason. 

_(Ah this must be where they forced the mind flayer out of Will, El thinks, and the poker thing is probably her best guess of what that burn on his stomach is from.)_ She tries to stop the sick feelings gaining in her throat at the thought. But her heart-rate is starting to quicken and she feels like she cant breathe. So El closes her eyes tightly and takes a deep breath. She begins combing her mind for that tingling feeling and the sickness fades when she finally feels Will’s warmth and happiness radiating. It’s okay. _He’s okay._

El and Hop spend the next few hours setting their house _(house not home)_ back in order, it takes longer than it should because Hop wont let her use her powers, before finally siting down and having an eggo extravaganza for a job well done _(whether for the house cleaning or the gate closing, El’s not quite sure)_.

At first its awkward, neither of them quite know what to say. But eventually Hop clears his throat and starts slowly. 

“So ...” 

“So?” El answers unsure. Hop sighs and rests his head in his hands. 

“We gonna talk about it?” He asks dryly. 

“Talk about what?” Another sigh. They both know what.

“You know what. You running away to meet your _sister_, since when do you have a sister?” He says exasperated _(day 7’s word of the day)._

“We already talked.” El says matter of factly. 

“Yea you telling me that you ran away to see your sister is not talking about it, kid.” He says pointedly.

“What more is there to talk about.” El replies. She’s still exhausted, this time its more emotional than physical. She misses Kali and she doesn’t want to sit here and listen to Hop tell her how stupid it was to go looking for her or how she shouldn’t be around someone of her influence. It’s her turn to sigh, and Hop finally removes his face from his hands and looks at her again. He doesn’t look angry, just tired, exactly how she feels. This is why they work, she thinks.

He’s quite for a moment, looking contemplative _(day 56’s word of the day)_ before he finally speaks again. But its resolved almost like he doesn’t want to know the answer.

“Are you going to go back to her?” And, wow. Out of all things El imagined Hop would ask her about Kali and about her trip in general that definitely was _not_ one of them. She contemplates this for a moment before replying.

“I .. didn’t know I could.” She says slowly and carefully. Hop laughs half-hearteningly and a small smile appears, but its pained, sad almost.

“Well I couldn’t really stop you the last time, figure I probably can’t stop you again if you want to go back.” The sadness is clearer now, but El doesn’t understand. Her heart feels sad too and she doesn’t know why. But its aching and it _hurts and she’s just so confused._

“Do you ... want me to leave?” She tries to not let her voice break. This is it, she made one _(okay many)_ stupid mistake and now Hop, the one person in her life she loves and who she thought loved her, who took her in when she was so alone and so scared, _and cared for her_, doesn’t want her anymore. 

She can’t bare to look at him, afraid if she looks up and sees that , that _disappointment_ , then the dam will finally break and she’ll cry the tears that have been sitting in the back of her eyes since Kali. She nearly jumps out of her skin when she feels him grab her hand. Hop has never been overtly affectionate, but neither was she, she wasn’t used to physical contact _(or she wasn’t used to good physical contact)_ and so most of the time they didn’t touch at all, except for when he held her after closing the gate. Despite its unfamiliarity El’s heart breaks at the feeling of his hand on hers, comforting and strong, and she thinks she could get used to this kind of contact, it feels like when Will held her. She finally looks up and if she thought she was gonna cry at a look of disappointment she was screwed now. Here was Hop, strong, brave, never wavering Hop, with tears in his eyes _(but not falling, never falling)_ trying so desperately to hold it together. 

“I ..” long unsteady breath in “El, kid I just want you to be happy. This , this isn’t about what I want, I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re you’re you-“ he’s waving his free hand around like he’s trying to physically catch the word he’s looking for.

More sighs “like you're imprisoned again, _especially not here._” He whispers the last part, and there’s something about the tone in his voice that makes her throat close up and she feels guilty but can’t immediately think of why. After a moment he continues. 

“So if -if you don’t want to be here, if you don’t want to stay with me that’s okay.” Another deeper breath in, El pretends not to notice the tear that escapes and he quickly wipes it away like it never happened, she can feel the tears streaming down her own face. After coughing and clearing his throat for a moment he continues.

“If being with Kali or your living with your aunt, or hell I’m sure if you wanted Joyce would take you in, if any of those would make you happier-“ cough “happier than you are here, with me, then I’m okay. I just want you to be happy.” He looks into her eyes so deeply it almost hurts, he squeezes her hand harder “hey kid, do you understand me? I just want you to be _happy_.” 

El wants to stop crying but she cant. It’s like now that she’s finally let the tears free they’re going to keep going till they bleed her dry, every emotion she’s ever felt is here pouring down her face and she cant stop it. And part of her doesn't want to, because as painful as it is, it also feels good. Likes she’s finally releasing something that has been trapped inside her for so long she forgot it was even there.

“Okay.” She replies weakly. 

“Okay.” Hop confirms.

“So? What’s gonna make you happy kid?” 

He sounds so broken her heart aches, but El doesn’t know what to say, she’s never been asked that before. She misses Kali, but Kali and her friends hurt people and something about it makes El feel uneasy, and her aunt was nice but it hurts being so close to Mama and her not really being there. And then there’s Joyce. Joyce and Jonathan and Will, the family she’s always wanted. And yes she wants them, but even thinking about all of them together _somethings_ missing.

No. Not something. Someone.

_Hop_.

Her policeman.

The closest thing to an actual father she ever had, save for Papa, but Hop is nothing like Papa. 

And that's when she remembers.

The memory of yelling and screaming at Hop, and Hop yelling at her is flashing around her brain. _“you are like Papa!”_ She had screamed at him, she had thrown things and tried to hurt him. Her throat hurts from the phantom ache of all the screaming.

Oh, _oh_. Oh god. That’s that feeling from earlier, the guilt. Hop thinks she feels imprisoned here, just like at the lab. And yes she had felt angry, so so angry at the lies and being kept here. But it wasn’t like at the lab, Hop was only trying to keep her safe, in the only way he knew how, even if that way wasn’t right. She looks up at Hop and he looks ... _defeated_. Her chest aches again and again and again. She didn’t mean it, she was just so _angry_ but she didn’t mean it. 

Suddenly the tears aren’t just silently falling, they’re pouring in viscous loud sobs and her body is shaking. This doesn't feel good anymore. The thing she has released is the monster she’s always feared was inside her. _‘I’m the monster’_ she had said, and she was right, how could she have done this. She let her emotions control her, let her powers control her when she was supposed to control them. And she had hurt him, she had hurt her policeman.

“I’m sorry!” She chokes out as more tears force their way down her face. In an instant Hop is there in front of her, looking unsure of what to do but pained all the same. He grabs onto her shoulders softly.

“Hey hey kid its okay, you’re okay, shh-“ he whispers, trying to soothe her. 

“No, _no_, _**no**_, i I didn’t _mean_ it! I’m so sorry!” She cries, his face washes with confusion. 

“You didn’t mean what?” More sobs. “What didn’t you mean El?” He tries again and shakes her lightly to get her to look at him. She finally makes eye contact and she can barely stand it. 

“You ... are not like ... him.” More confusion. 

“Papá ... i -I didn’t mean it, you are not like him” another sob wracks her body at the realization and pain that spreads across his face, she can't look at it anymore. 

“I’m sorry,, I’m so sorry.” 

Warm arms wrap around her, and she’s filled with that familiar feeling again, that feeling of _safe_. 

“Hey, hey ey shhh, its okay, its okay-“ 

“_**no**_!” She cuts him off.

“Shh, el, kid its okay.” He tries to pull back but El holds on tighter, not ready for the feeling to end again. 

He continues to whisper quite words of comfort to her until finally her tears begin to slow, and her breathing returns to normal again. A few quite moments pass before she breaks the silence again. 

“I didn’t mean it.” It’s soft this time, barely a whisper, a stark contrast to the shouting that was just going on. She needs him to _understand_. He’s sighs for the thousandth time, but its different this time its not frustrated or sad its just .. there.

“I know kid. I know.” His voice breaks slightly and finally she lets him pull back. Moments pass with them just sitting in this silence but it’s different now, it’s comfortable, understood. 

And sitting here looking at Hop, she knows. She knows what she wants, what will make her happy. 

“Hop?” She asks quietly, trying not to disturb the comfortable aura their currently sitting in. 

“Yea?” He replies. Deep breath in.

“I want to stay here. With you.” Deep breath out. A weight off her shoulders. 

“Are - are you sure, because you know you don’t have to-“ he starts unsure but she cuts him off, determined this time

“Yes. I am sure.” And something bubbles in her chest at the look of elation that passes over his face, his entire posture changing from one of uncertainty to one of complete ease. Ah, happiness that’s the feeling, and El cant help the smile that over takes her, Hop smiles too and soon they’re both laughing hysterically. Don’t ask her why, she has no idea but it feels good, a nice break from all of the seriousness that’s surrounded them lately. 

A few hours later and they’re lying around their living room watching some old movie El has never seen. She looks around their cabin and can't fight the feeling that somethings missing, the same feeling she always had in the cabin. Suddenly she gets an idea, she turns to look at Hop. 

“Hop?” She asks, he grunts in response and hey she’ll take it.

“I want to ... _change_.” She tries, but it doesn’t quite sound right and according to Hop’s confused look and “huh” She’s guessing it didn’t make any sense.

She tries again “I want to change ... our house.. its not .. ours, its still your grandfather.” She tries “I want it to be ours.” 

He still looks mildly confused before asking “are you saying you want to .. redecorate?”

El doesn’t recognize that word and he can tell so now he tries again. 

“Redecorate its when you change the things that make up your house, like the pillows or the wallpaper and such to fit what you like.” He says trying to choose his words carefully to make sure he was explaining it correctly. Her face lights up. 

‘Yes! Re-decor-rate!” She repeats sounding out the word excitedly. “Can we?” She asks again. Hop just looks at her with a smile. 

“Of course we can kid, of course we can.” 

And that’s that. 

—

It’s Now Friday November 9th, 1984.

Exactly four days after El closed the gate. It’s been a relatively quiet few days, El and Hop have mainly just stayed in the cabin and recuperated _(day 9’s word of the day)_. El misses Will and Mike and the rest of the party _(and although she wont tell anyone, she misses seeing pretty red hair whirling around)_ but she knows that she needed to rest, and so did they. But now it was Friday and Hop was going back to his first day of work and would be working the overnight shift as well to make up his missing hours, which meant that El was about to head over to the Byers’ for the night. She was practically vibrating with excitement, it was going to be her first real official sleepover, and she’d get to spend an entire day with Will, the rest of the party would be joining them after school. 

Although she hasn’t seen Will since Tuesday, thanks to their connection they talk _all_ the time.

After much deliberation they decided not to tell anyone yet about their connection, choosing to wait and see what it means exactly and what more specifically this means for Will. Does Will have powers too? Obviously him and El have some sort of telepathic connection that allows them to share and read each other’s thoughts and feel each other feelings with no boundaries, but is this something special between them or can Will do this with everyone and just not know it yet? Can Will do anything else like El can? There’s too many questions and not enough answers to tell anyone yet. Plus its kind of nice having this special thing between them. So they decide to wait.

Mostly they’ve just been getting to know each other, despite their connection they know so little about each other that they’ve essentially spent the past few days just catching up on each other’s lives. Because Will can read her thoughts and feelings she doesn’t always need words to express things to him which means their conversations can flow easier than with others, and flow they do.

El finds she trusts Will wholeheartedly, she shares with him the memories of growing up in the lab, the amazing things she can do but also the horrible things she’s had too. How sometimes she hates her powers, because her powers hurt people without her always meaning too, and sometimes they control her instead of the other way around. She shares how sometimes she hates how cool everyone seems to find them, and how originally Lucas was the only one who understood how dangerous they could be. She tells him how guilty she feels because her powers are the reason her mother is in the state she is. And oh yea, she tells Will about Mama, about the memories she shared with her, the room she had made for her that still stands. She tells him about Kali and how for a little while she thought she could stay there forever, how she knows theres good in Kali and beauty and she hopes Will can meet her one day. She tells him everything. 

Will shares with her what living with his dad was like, a bad man El had decided, how he would yell at Will and call him names, and sometimes if he was mad enough and drunk enough he didn’t just yell. This is where El learns what the scars on Will’s body are. This is where El learns if she ever meets Lonnie Byers, he may never meet anyone ever again. Will is different, he doesn’t treat her different because of her powers, he just treats her like ... her. He tells her about how none of the kids at school like him, and how he’s been bullied his entire life but its just gotten worse after the upside down.

And they bond about the upside down, this terrifying place neither of them can seem to forget. They talk and bond over their guilt. 

El’s guilt about Benny, the first person in her entire life who had tried to take care of her, _she’s the reason he’s dead._ She tells him about the guilt of killing so many people from the lab _(even if they deserved it, sometimes the memories feel like they’re killing her too). _

She screams and apologizes to him one night in a panic because the guilt is eating her alive of how _she is the reason he was ever in the upside in the first place_. But Will doesn't blame her, and he doesn't just lie to her and tell her that its okay, that it wasn’t her fault, like everyone else does. 

Instead he tells her about his own guilt, the guilt of killing all of those guards, _of killing Bob_. How sometimes he can see his mother flinch when she looks at him, even though she swears up and down that none of it was his fault. How he can still remember everything the shadow monster _(El notices that he’s never referred to him as the mind flayer)_ did while _he_ was in charge, like choking his mom while they tried to burn _him_ out of him. He can still feel the pain of the white-hot metal piercing his skin. And then one night he admits that part of him was glad that Nancy _had_ burned him, because before then he could never look her in the eyes. 

He felt responsible for Barb being taken _“If I hadn’t have hid so well the demogorgon wouldn’t have needed to take anyone else.” He had cried to her._ He tells her how now its Nancy who cant look at him without looking guilty, and how he wants to tell her its okay and to apologize but he doesn't know how. El tells him how whenever she looks at Lucas she cant help but remember when she accidentally threw him in that bus yard, _how she could have killed him but he forgave her, but she cant forgive herself._ They talk and they bond about all the bad.

But they don’t just talk about bad things. El shares with him the memories of watching Hop dance around to music, and Eggos for breakfast, how much she loves reading and learning new things but hates when people speak to her like she doesn’t understand instead of explaining concepts. She tells him how despite how much she pretends it annoys her how much she truly loves her words of the day. She tells him about how much she’s found she loves physical affection, like hugs and holding hands, and the safety it makes her feel. How excited she is to find more things she loves, to find herself in a way she was never allowed before. And Will tells her about art, all the different mediums he loves, the feeling it gives him. He tells her about DnD and his character Will the Wise, how Mike had named her their mage for when she returned to them. But her favorite thing is when Will shares with her memories of the party, it makes her giddy. He shares with her the memories of when he first met Mike, Lucas and Dustin, and even Max. He shares with her his favorite memories of siting and listening to music with Jonathan, cooking with Joyce, watching movies with Mike, reading comics with Dustin, and biking around with Lucas. He shares and she shares and they share all together.

They talk practically all the time, but still El can’t wait to see Will in person again. Because Will has come to be her favorite person. He feels like a missing half of her, someone who should’ve been here the whole time and now that they are she cant comprehend how she lived her life without him.

—

The clock in Hop’s truck read 1-0:0-0 a.m by the time they pulled up to the Byers’ and El didn’t even wait until the car was off before jumping out of the front seat and running to Will who was waiting for her on the front porch. They met in a bundle of limbs in the middle of the Byers’ front yard, holding onto each other for dear life. Hop reached them eventually and gave Will a soft smile and ruffled his hair, Will pretended to groan but El could feel his warmth growing. 

They make their way inside and find Jonathan waiting for them. He gives them a small wave as they enter. 

“Hey, thanks for watching her for me.” Hop greets Jonathan. Jonathan gives a noncommittal wave before replying “nah, its no problem really. I’m already babysitting two people what’s one more?” He chuckled lightly but Hop just gave him a bewildered look as he searched around the living room for anyone else that was hiding here. 

“Oh right, sorry I forgot you guys had left already.” Jonathan starts after a minute realizing no one but Will knew what he was referencing.

“Umm, you remember how we took Steve to the hospital right?” He asked and El and Hop gave a small nod of understanding. “Yea well it turns out a few of his ribs were fractured and he has a pretty nasty concussion, but nothing serious enough to warrant staying in the hospital. So he was released with the intention to go home and be on bed rest for at least the rest of the month with weekly check-ins to make sure he’s healing okay.” He supplies, after they nod again signally they are following him, he continues but this time he’s whispering slightly. 

“Well part of the deal of releasing him was that he would be monitored 24/7 to make sure nothing happens to aggravate any of his conditions. The problem is his parents aren’t home and he doesn't know when they’ll be back and no one could get in contact with them. Nancy’s house was out because theres no way her parents would allow her boyfri-ex boyfr- a - a boy to stay in their house,” he stammered out cheeks reddened, Will gave him a teasing look. “So Steve is gonna be staying here for a bit.” He finished. 

Hop gave a nod of understanding. “So it’ll just be you four for right now?” Hop asked. 

“Yea, Mom’s already at work, she left at 6 but she’ll be home around 9. And the rest of Will’s friends and Nancy will be over after they get out of school.” Jonathan answered him. Hop looked content with his answer for a minute before a look of confusion crossed over his face, he looked between Will and Jonathan now. “So why aren’t you two in school?” 

It was Will who answered this time looking a little embarrassed. “Mom decided she didn’t want me to go back to school just yet. Thinks I need more time and rest before I’m ready, and since theres only a month of school left anyways she’s just gonna have me stay home for the rest of the semester and I’ll do my schoolwork here.” Jonathan nodded next to him before supplying “and since Mom has to go back to work and somebody needs to watch Steve anyways I’m gonna stay home too to watch over the both of them and Miss El here while you're working.” 

“Okay then, and your schools are ... okay with this?” Hop asks unsure, but after they both nod Hop just shakes his head a little before muttering “damn, school really has changed since my day.” 

Hop left a few minutes later to head to work. Once he’s gone the three of them head back to Jonathans room to sit with Steve. Steve is lying on Jonathans bed surrounded by a mountain of pillows, as soon as they enter the room his face lights up dopily.

“Hey look its Carrie! Byers, mini Byers do you see this, Carrie is here!” He shouts happily. El looks around confused for this ‘Carrie’ but no one is there, so she looks at Will for explanation. The tingling is back again. 

_“He means you. Carrie, its an old movie about a girl with telekinetic powers.” He explains softly, never seeming annoyed that she hadn’t understood the reference. She nods in reply. _

Jonathan coughs roughly and knocks them out of their own world. “Yea sorry about him, he’s kind of on a lot of painkillers right now so he’s a little drugged.” 

“Drug-ed. What is drugged?” El asks her face scrunching slightly at the unfamiliar word, and Jonathan looks for a moment like he doesn't want to answer before he heaves a sigh.

“Uhhh, drugged its when a substance of some sort, like painkillers or alcohol or stuff effects your personality or the way you act.” He says uncomfortably. But El just nods in understanding and they move on. 

They stay in Jonathan’s room with Steve until the others arrive. Will shows El some of his homework that he’s been working on. Jonathan plays some music she’s never heard before but that she likes the sound of and Steve, well, Steve really just kind of sits there on the bed lost in his own world. It feels good to sit here with them though, even if its mostly in silence while everyone works on different things. El thinks she could get used to this feeling. 

A few hours pass before they hear a knock at the door, signaling that the rest of the party have finally arrived. El and Will excitedly jump up to greet their friends. 

When they open the door they’re faced with Lucas, Dustin, Nancy and Mike all freezing on the Byers’ porch. Nancy looks at them mildly startled by the doors opening before heaving a large sigh and announcing “Oh thank fucking god I’m freezing out here.” She doesn't wait for a response before storming past them and into the house presumably to find Jonathan and Steve. Mike just rolls his eyes dramatically at her before looking fondly at Will and then El and pulling them both into a hug which they both gladly reciprocate. Lucas and Dustin both fake gag behind them before joining in on the group hug, and El doesn't care how cold it is outside, inside she’s _warm_. 

They sit for awhile in the living room in complete chaos, all of the boys besides Will are talking over each other and El is pretty sure they’re all having at _least_ five different conversations. She doesn't mind, because they’re here, they are all here in front of her and she can feel tears of happiness forming. Mike gives Will his schoolwork for the weekend, and the party breaks into what El assumes is not the first argument about how unfair it is that they still have to go school and how boring it is while Will gets to stay at home before Mike cuts them off in an angry huff. An awkward silence fills in after his outburst before Will puts a comforting hand on Mike’s and tells him that its okay, and just like that everything’s normal again. (_Will never removes his hand, and Mike just laces their fingers together all the way through and El thinks their hands look so normal together. Like they belong.)_

Something has been bothering El though since everyone has arrived, and thats the absence of a certain redhead she totally hasn’t been anxiously waiting to see again. She wants to ask why she isn’t here but doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that she _actually cares._ Thankfully either Will had the same thought or he read hers and decided to take pity on her and ask instead. 

“Hey guys, where’s Max? I thought I told you to invite her too?” Will spoke up. In an instance all of the boys conversations stopped again. Mike looks mildly annoyed at the mention of Max but Dustin and Lucas just both have matching looks of worry.

“We did, or we _tried_.” Dustin started before Lucas cut him off, or finished for him, El could never really tell with these two. “She hasn’t been back to school since everything. We tried to call her house and check on her but her step-father just said she was busy and couldn’t come to the phone.” Dustin nodded along, Will’s face grew in worry and even Mike’s annoyance shifted ever slightly. Dustin spoke up again, this time quieter. “We’re actually really worried, after everything with Billy no one thought she should go back home but she assured us everything would be fine but-“ he paused for a moment looking at Lucas, and then Lucas continued for him again “but we haven’t heard from her at all, and Nancy said Billy hasn’t been to school either.” Will looked deep in concerned thought before he asked the question that has been sitting uncomfortably in the back of El’s mind this whole time. 

“Do you think something ... happened to her?” Will asked so softly and so quietly it was barely audible, but by the deep in take of breathe everyone took El’s guessing they all heard it. 

“I don’t know. I hope not, but something doesn't feel right.” Lucas answered. Dustin and him shared another look before turning to El. “We were actually wondering if El could maybe ask Hopper to go and check on her, make sure she’s okay.” Dustin asked slowly, Will and Mike turned to look at her too. They all looked scared like she was going to get upset at the suggestion, and it hurt her a little to think that even if she wasn’t friends with Max that she wouldn’t want her to be okay. 

“Of course. I’ll ask Hop tomorrow.” She supplied simply and relief washed over all of their faces. 

They went back to talking about nothing and everything all at one but even then El couldn’t get this sinking feeling out of her stomach as she thought about the pretty redhead. She really really hopes Max is okay. 

A few hours later everyone’s hungry and ready for dinner. Jonathan _attempts_ to make something El thinks is supposed to be lasagna but ends up burning it nearly unrecognizable. The kids suggest that they should just get pizza but Steve, who they had already moved to sit at the table for dinner, wasn’t having it. 

“_What_, you little shits think were just gonna eat pizza and junk food for the foreseeable future? No, no you need real food.” He said matter of factly. Dustin looked mock offended at the suggestion that pizza wasn’t real food before replying “oh yea and what exactly do _you_ suggest we do asshole? Jonathan already burnt our real food.” 

Jonathan makes a slightly embarrassed noise from the kitchen that sounds sort of like an apology. But ignoring both of them Steve just looks to Nancy and smiles sweetly to her. 

“Hey Nance, could you help me to my wheelchair please?” Steve asked her. Nancy gave him a bewildered look before wordlessly bring his wheelchair next to him. Steve attempted to move himself to the chair but he ended up just collapsing back into his seat, he gave an angry sigh before shouting “hey dipshits you wanna give me some help over here?” In an instance Jonathan and Dustin are helping Steve into his wheelchair, once Steve is situated and comfortable he’s off to the kitchen leaving them all behind in confusion. 

Many people ask him what he’s doing but he either ignores them or just says “what does it look like I’m doing, jumping jacks?”. 

An hour later Steve has called them all to the dining table to serve them a dinner El has never seen before but smells heavenly. Everyone besides El gawks at him and his expertly made food. Steve just tells them all to actually try it before they’re impressed. Everyone sits down and grabs their own plate. El has no idea what she’s eating but she thinks it the best thing she’s _ever_ had, save for eggos, and apparently everyone agrees with her.

Dustin takes a few bites before slamming his fork down and yelling “what the fuck Steve?”. He flails his arms in confusion “how in the hell do you know how to cook like this?”.

Steve tries to look cocky but El can see that he’s actually kind of embarrassed. He tries to brush is off as just you know having one of those secret skills but no one is having it, finally he gives a little sigh.

“Fine okay, fine.” He pauses for a moment clearly trying to decide how good of an idea it is to continue his explanation, Nancy notices his uneasiness and puts a gentle hand on top of his, when he looks at her she just gives him her charming Nancy smile that says _“hey, everything’s going to be okay.”_ Steve smiles back at her before continuing. 

“Look its not exactly news to anyone that my parents are away a lot. But the truth of the matter is they’re barely ever home and when they are its like they’re not there at all and its been this way since I was about your guys’s age. And so if I didn’t want to just eat junk food all the goddamned time I had to learn how to provide my own meals. So I took some cooking lessons and I ended up really liking it and it turned out I’m actually a pretty decent chef, who woulda thought right?” He finished with a forced chuckle.

But Dustin who had continued eating somewhere during this conversation just called out “decent??? You’re a fucking godsend of a chef!” And everyone agreed. Steve just dipped his head down from everyone’s view and the rest of dinner went on uneventful. 

Once they had finished eating the party, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve all prepared to sleep in the living room and watch Star Wars _(Nancy and Steve complained about the movie choice but they were wildly outvoted by everyone)_. Steve got to sleep on the couch for obvious reasons, and everyone else pilled their sleeping bags and pillows around in a pile on the floor.

Halfway through the first movie Joyce comes home from work, she looks exhausted but her face lights up at the sight of everyone. After she ate some dinner too _(profusely thanking Steve for the wonderful food)_ and showered she headed off to bed for the night. 

El managed to make it through the whole Star Wars trilogy before finally her tiredness over came her. They had put on ghostbusters and were about a quarter of the way through when she felt sleep creeping up on her. El’s sleeping bag is right next to Will’s naturally, and Mike is on his other side, she scooted closer to Will as she started to fall asleep. She was overtaken again by that familiar warmth that she can only connect to happiness and Will. Which are the same thing, really.

—

A week has passed since El’s first sleepover with The Party, she’s spent most of the week over at the Byers’ while Hop is at work, but spends the nights at the cabin with Hop watching horrible old movies. But since its Friday and Hop’s first day off since he went back to work they’re going to go on their first ever shopping trip for their re-decor-ation. Hop says that it should be safe to go out into the world because its early on a Friday morning and most adults are at work and all the kids are at school, well all except Will who is joining them for their outing. 

They make it to the furniture store and El is overwhelmed. She’s only ever been in one store before in her life, and she kind of destroyed part of it so she could steal eggos. There’s so many things around her, and Hop was right practically no people besides the workers, who look like they would rather be anywhere else at 8 a.m on a Friday morning. El wanted to look at everything, to soak up as much of the experience as she could, but they were on a mission and had a time limit before it was too dangerous to stay out. Their mission today was to find beds for both El and Hop. 

Hop didn’t understand why he needed one but El convinced him he didn’t want to sleep on the bed Will was practically _exorcised_ on, a word Dustin had taught her. And Hop begrudgingly accepted. El was also getting a new bed frame that she got to pick out, eventually she’d get new sheets and blankets and pillows and other decorative things, but for now this was as good as they could do. They still lived on a policeman’s salary after all, even if he was the chief. 

After El picked out her bed and frame they began the search for Hop’s, they found a comfortable king bed for a surprisingly good price after a while. Hop _really _didn’t understand why he needed a king bed when it was just him but Will and El just shared that secret look of theirs and giggled before walking away from the perplexed Hop. 

All in all the day was amazing, so perfectly mundane and _domestic (day 189’s word of the day)_ El couldn’t wait to do it again. 

Over the next few weeks they starting filling out their cabin with things that felt more like _them. _Bits and bops here and there like some new pillows for their living room, a new set of plates for the kitchen. Then some larger items like a new couch and a new bookshelf _(because El kind of destroyed their old one), _they even got a few photos of them on their bookcase that Jonathan took. 

The biggest change in the house was El’s room. It was completely redone, starting with painting the walls a pretty shade of green-blue to match her door. Her new mattress and bed frame sit in the room nicely, complete with all new bedding. She got an updated nightstand and even a small bookshelf of her own to fill with all the books people kept giving her _(after someone *cough* Will *cough* told everyone how much she enjoyed reading all her friends keep giving her books, some they think she’ll like and some are ones that are special to them, those are her favorites)_. She now had posters and pictures of her and her friends and family all taken by Jonathan hanging around all of her walls. The biggest olive branch was made when El came home one day from the Byers’ and found a brand new T.V in her room that Hop was setting up _(and yea okay maybe she cried, and maybe she cried a lot more than should have been warranted)._ The Byers’ even pitched in and bought her her very own radio like the rest of The Party’s so she could keep in contact with everyone. But her favorite thing about her new room was something so much more special than anything else she had ever received. 

She had been at the Byers’ on a Monday as she always is and was about to leave to head back to the cabin for the night when Will had stopped her.

_“Hey, wait before you leave I wanted to give you something.” Will had told her when Hop pulled up outside._

_ She gave him a quizzical look but followed him into his room unquestionably. He looked (and felt) nervous for some reason. _

_When they entered his room El went and sat down on the edge of his bed while Will went searching for something in his desk. Eventually he came and sat next to her holding what looked like a very colourful bag with weird paper inside. Will looked at her with red cheeks. _

_“I know you guys are almost done with your house and everything, and you’re probably already done with your room so it may not fit in but I wanted to get you something! But we don’t exactly have a lot of money and I couldn’t really think of what to get you anyways besides books but everyone’s getting you books an-“ _

_El had never really seen Will ramble this much, he is usually a person of very few words, just like her, its why they work. But this boy in front of her was an embarrassed mess stuttering along his sentences, so El put a comforting hand upon his and he stopped immediately. He looked at her and she just gave him a small smile. _

_“Will, its okay, I understand.” He smiled back at her before taking a deep breath. _

_“I made you something. It’s not much but ... I really hope you like it.” He said finally and handed her the weird bag thing. El just looked at it in confusion but Will chuckled lightly._

_“It’s a present, you take the tissue paper out and look inside the bag.” He informed her with a smile. _

_And wow El had never really received a present before. She took the bag carefully and gently removed the paper. Underneath was a thick book like thing that El didn’t recognize. She pulled it out and saw that is was handmade (and it was very clearly Will’s art), on its cover it had written “El’s word of the day Calendar!” In a rainbow of colours. El flipped through the pages of the months of the year that each had their own personal artwork, and everyday had a new word with its definition underneath it. It was breathtaking. El was speechless, when she looked up at Will he looked nervous. Her heart filled with so much she just hoped he could feel it too, and by the smile that erupted on his face, she’s guessing he can. Suddenly they’re wrapped in a bone crushing hug and are both sobbing. But its good, its so good. _

—

November 20th, 1984.

_Today’s Word of the day is: Ineffable - (adj) too great to be expressed in words._

—

When they were finally done with the redecorating they stood looking around at their finished project. 

“So, what do you say, is the change good enough?” Hop asks.

El looks around their finished cabin and something burrows into her heart, and before she knows it she has tears in her eyes and she feels full. Hop looks at her in concern.

“Hey, what is it kid?” He put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. And after one final tearful look around she finally looks up at him with a grin so wide it hurts her cheeks but she doesn’t care. She grabs a hold of his hand.

“It’s _home_.” 

And just because the universe is always trying to prove El wrong, the one thing she never expected to happen does. Hop’s eyes fill with tears she’s never seen him shed, _and he lets them fall._

Soon they’re both a bundle of limbs and tears and happiness, _just so much happiness._ It’s almost unbearable. 

And for a moment El wonders how Will knew, knew that today would be the day they finished their _home, _knew that today would be the day Hop finally breaks, today would be the day that everything is so good, too good to describe. _Today is ineffable. _

—

That night as she lays down to sleep for the first time in her finished _home_ El hones in on that familiar tingling that resides in the back of her brain now. 

_“Will?” She asks._

A moment passes before she hears the reply. 

_“Yea?” He sounds sleepy, and she briefly wonders if she woke him up. _

_“No you didn’t, I’m just watching a movie with Mike and I’m starting to wane a little bit.” She hears him chuckle the reply._

_“Wane?” She asks, she’s never heard that one before._

_“Yea wane its like fade, you’re waning off to sleep.” He explains. _

_“Ah.” _

_“El?’ _

_“Yes?”_

_“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” He asks, oh right for a moment El had forgotten she’d contacted him._

_“Yea, I just wanted to tell you ... I’m happy. Really happy Will.” She cant stop the smile spreading on her face. And somehow she can feel Will smiling too._

_“That’s great El, you deserve it.” And she knows he means it._

_“So hows the new home?” He asks and she practically squeals out loud._

_“Oh Will its so amazing-“ _

And they stay like that for awhile, at first discussing her new home, and then what movie him and Mike are watching (_she asked him why Dustin and Lucas weren’t there and could feel the heat light up his cheeks and El thinks, maybe she’s starting to understand this whole redness thing.) _and then anything they think of.

But there’s one question she’s been wondering for while but has been to afraid to ask, and if Will’s noticed he hasn’t said anything. 

She can feel him drifting further and further into sleep so before she loses her chance she takes a deep steadying breath and asks_ “Hows Max?” _

_She can feel Will’s confusion and she’s not sure if that’s from the sudden speaking again or the question._

_“Max?” He asks for confirmation, she sighs exasperatedly._

_“Yess Max, you know pale, red hair, carries a weird piece of wood with wheels around with her all the time?” She still doesn’t know what that thing is._

_“You mean her skateboard?” Will asks and AHAH! A SKATEBOARD **THAT'S ITS NAME! **_

_“Hey! No yell thinking!” Will says with a chuckle, and she laughs too._

_A moment of silence falls on them and she can feel Will thinking but she just doesn’t know about what. How their connection really works is still kind of a mystery so sometimes its a toss up of what they can feel and understand and what they cant. Finally Will speaks again._

_ “She’s okay, Max. They finally arrested Billy for attacking Lucas and Steve after you had Hopper go check on her. And after that she came to see us all. She had a lot of bruises and looked like she hadn’t slept in awhile but she seemed happy, happier than I’ve ever seen her that’s for sure but to be fair I don’t know her very well.”_

_He pauses momentarily considering before asking “why?” _

_“Why what?” El replies. _

_“Why did you want to know how she was?” He asks curiously, there’s an odd tone in his thoughts, almost teasing and, well, El’s never really been teased before but she’s seen the boys do it enough to each other to recognize it. _

_El wonders if Will can feel how her heart rate quickened, and then she wonders if he can hear her wondering this??? Man sometimes sharing a brainwave with someone can be so stressful!_

_“I was just wondering, Hop never mentioned it again after he went to check on her so I guess I just wanted to check and make sure she wasn’t dead.” That’s a lie and they both know it, but he doesn’t mention it. (Thank god.)_

_A few minutes pass and El was starting to think Will had finally fallen asleep when he spoke again. _

_“Hey El?” He asks softly._

_She hums in response._

_“It’s okay you know.” He says kindly, but she’s confused._

_“What’s okay?” He just laughs lightly in response and her confusion grows. _

_“You’ll get it. One day.”_

And with that the connection is shut off and El is once again left alone with her thoughts. 

And tonight as she falls asleep in her new home she allows her mind to wander to soft hands holding on to splintered boards and red hair blowing in the wind. Hey, Will said it was okay, so she guesses it was.

—

The next day the Hoppers have a house warming party. 

They invite the Byers’, the party, and even Nancy and Steve _(El’s grown to really like Steve)_.

And despite the fact that she didn’t invite her, there is a piece of El that is disappointed when a certain pretty red head doesn’t show up, but she ignores this. 

She also ignores the knowing look Will sends her from across the kitchen where he’s talking animatedly to Mike about their campaign they just finished. 

She pushes all of this aside and goes back to her party. Who needs pretty girls who burn like fire anyways?

_(She thinks she knows that answer.)_

_(She just hopes she’s wrong.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooo buddy, that was quite a chapter!  
This was actually one the most difficult chapters to write, it started out originally as just being about El and Hop and their house turning into a home and the chapter i had written was only 3k words but i thought it felt a little bare and choppy so i decided to add some scenes and then some scenes turned into ... 12k words.. oops! Anyways, I hope y’all enjoyed this monstrosity of a chapter, tbh I have no idea if this makes sense or anything cause its been a very stressful week with trying to figure out what Dorian is doing so I’m a bit exhausted, but its been nice to escape into this story.
> 
> I really wanted to write some el/hopper father/daughter bonding because I know we got a little bit when they were driving to the gate but it’s wasn’t enough! Also of course theres lots of El/Will bonding!  
I’m sorry for anyone disappointed for the lack of elmax currently, I’m trying my best to write this story and relationship as truthfully as i can, and I don’t think they would just immediately become friends and hit it off, and i dont want their relationship to feeel forced or rushed because their deserve so much better than that, but i am so excited to continue writing them and i cant wait to continue their development!
> 
> Also now that El has the word of the day calendar I’m going to be putting the days and words of the day in so that y’all can follow along with where we are in the timeline! (I have a complete timeline for this fic currently written from where we are until the end of season 3, with most of the plots for each chapter already figured out but since most of them are big plot lines I’m also looking to do either some filler scenes or filler chapters of just happiness and fluff because i dont like having constant angst! So if any of you have any ideas for cute fillers scenes you would like to see that you think would fit in with this fic let me know! And ill see about adding it to the story!) 
> 
> Also in other news i finally created a stranger Things tumblr so if you want to check it out its @strangerestthings-friendswemade yes i know that a weird url dont judge.
> 
> And here’s the preview for next chapter!
> 
> —
> 
> November 22nd, 1984
> 
> Today’s Word of the day is: Thankfulness - (adj) feeling or expressing gratitude.
> 
> El woke up on this Thursday with more excitement than she thinks she has ever felt in her entire life. Because today is Thanksgiving. And El has never had an actual Thanksgiving before, and she gets to spend it not just with her family (because let’s face it, in whatever way it is the Byers’ are her family now) but with Steve and Max as-well. And no matter how hard she tries El can’t stop herself from being excited to see the pretty red-head again. So she’s practically jumping off the walls when she wakes Hop up ready to start the day, despite the fact that the clock only reads 7-0-0 a.m. 
> 
> —


	4. Thanksgiving.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the sound of Hop’s voice El found herself in front of a sight that made her chest swell. Hop and Joyce were chatting while leaning against a counter, they were close together, closer than they needed to be and Hop’s eyes shined with a kind of happiness she had never seen. She could watch them all day just enjoying some of her favorite people being happy, but her internal musings were cut abruptly short when Will speaks up next her.
> 
> ”Hey Max! Glad you made it!” He yells happily and El heart feels like it stops for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome back! I’m so glad people are enjoying this fic because I’m having so much fun writing it! Anyways here’s chapter 4: Thanksgiving!

November 22nd, 1984

_Today’s Word of the day is: Thankfulness - (adj) feeling or expressing gratitude._

—

El woke up on this Thursday morning with more excitement than she thinks she has ever felt in her entire life. Because today is Thanksgiving. And El has never had an actual Thanksgiving before, and she gets to spend it not just with her family _(because let’s face it, in whatever way it is the Byers’ are her family now)_ but with Steve and Max as-well. And no matter how hard she tries El can’t stop herself from being excited to see the pretty red-head again.

It’s only been a few days since the Hopper’s housewarming party, and El still couldn’t shake how disappointed she had been to not see Max. She hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the pretty girl since her sleepover with The Party, the girl had plagued her thoughts for weeks and after her conversation with Will a few days ago El can’t help but _want _to see Max again. There was just something so intriguing about the pretty girl, she was like a riddle El _needed _to figure out the answer too. And apparently her brain wouldn’t rest until she did.

At first El convinced herself she was only thinking about Max because she was worried about her, but after talking to Will and finding out that she was okay and _happy, _well, now El just couldn’t stop thinking about seeing the red-head happy. At night her mind cant help but play out all the different scenarios of seeing Max again, of seeing her happy for the first time. What does happiness look like on the pretty girl? Is it small and subtle like Hop, just a slight brightness to her eyes that wasn’t there before, a peacefulness in the way she breathes that says air enters her lungs easier now. Or does it overtake her very essence like Will, smiles are no longer rare they’re constant, gleefulness bounces around her like bees and sunlight radiates off her body in spades. Does the fire she have burn even brighter or does it finally dull to a comfortable heat? There’s so many questions and El is buzzing from excitement to finally learn the answers!

And today is the day she finally will, because Max is coming to Thanksgiving with the Hopper-Byers’. El was shocked at first when Will told her that Max would be joining them as Mike _(who has been teaching her about customs and cultures and traditions) _had told her that Thanksgiving was a holiday you’re supposed to spend with you family, and last El checked Max was not in fact part of the Byers’ family. But Will explained that since Billy, Max’s not brother, had been arrested and was facing trial for assault and attempted assault of a minor Max’s family were spending Thanksgiving with him in a special room they set up for family members on holidays at the jail, and Max refused to go _(understandably). _Max was going to just stay home but after Joyce found out she wouldn’t have it and invited Max to join them, which apparently took some convincing but after telling her that Steve was also going to be joining them _(because his parent still aren’t home and he’s practically living with the Byers’ at this point)_ Max finally agreed. And so it was that El would finally get her chance to see Max again. 

Which leads to now, where El is practically jumping off the walls as she wakes Hop up, ready to start the day despite the fact that the clock only reads 7-0-0 a.m. Hop just groans and tries to hide his face under his pillow but El is not having it, not today. So she does the only reasonable thing she can think of, she uses her powers to lift his pillow off of his head and smack him with it, _gently. _He looks up at her indignantly _(day 145’s Word of the Day) _but El doesn’t falter, just gives him a blinding smile and quickly runs out of the room with a quick callback of “be ready to leave in 3-0!”.

El gets dressed in record time, already having her outfit picked out for days. After El found out that Max was going to be at Thanksgiving she changes her plans of just wearing a sweater and her overalls and instead decided to ask Nancy if she had anything slightly ... _pretty _for El to wear. Nancy seemed a little confused but El quickly explained that she just wanted to look nice for her first Thanksgiving _(she totally wasn’t trying to impress a certain red-head, that would be silly) _and Nancy seemed to accept that, so after a while of searching through her old stuff Nancy found an old 70’s style yellow sweater dress from when she was little, she also went and bought El a pair of black leggings to wear underneath the dress since it was 48 degrees outside. El looked at herself in her new mirror, the dress was so pretty and so soft. It was odd, but El liked the way it looked, and she liked the way she felt in the dress, it made her feel happy. El even got a little yellow headband that matched the dress to push back her curls. Feeling satisfied she went to sit in the living room to wait on Hop so they could head to the Byers’. 

—

Surprisingly Hop was in fact ready 30 minutes later, he complained about it, of course, but El could see in his eyes that he wasn’t serious. So by the time the clock read 8-0-0 a.m the Hopper’s where in front of the Byers’ home. 

It was Steve who opened the front door for them. He looked a lot better now than he had, the bruises and cuts on his face were healing, he still looked tired but his face crinkled in a smile that never seemed to go away. El’s spent practically everyday with the Byers’ and over the weeks of Steve staying with the family she’s noticed a lightness in the way he holds himself now compared to when she first met him, like the weight of the world has eased slightly.

They had finally moved him last week from his wheelchair to crutches, his ribs were healing nicely apparently so they felt confident that as long as he was careful walking wouldn’t damage them further. He was still staying with the Byers’ even though his mandatory 24/7 watch protocol had been lifted a few days ago, Joyce had said she didn’t feel comfortable with him still healing in an empty house and asked him to stay until his ribs were fully healed.

Steve smiles charismatically _(day 303’s Word of the Day) _at the Hopper’s once he opened the door. 

“You guys are seriously early.” He stated teasingly. Hop rolls his eyes slightly before pointing at El. “Blame the sudden early riser.” Steve looked at El, his smile growing as he gives her an overdramatic high five.

“That’s it kid, torture the adults it keeps their lives interesting.”

Hop just gave a very offended look before pushing past him and making his way into the Byers’ home. Steve and El giggle together for a moment before Steve offers her to step inside. She does gladly as it freezing, and he offers to take her jacket for her. 

“May I just say that you look absolutely darling today little Miss El.” He says with a slight bow and a horrible British accent. El chuckles lightly and gives him a small curtsy “Why thank you kind sir.” El replies with the same awful accent.

This had became their thing, their inside joke if you will. El had been over at the Byers’ almost everyday since Hop went back to work, which meant she was also with Steve almost everyday. El always liked Steve, he’s funny and charming and El likes to watch the way him and Jonathan banter back and forth, but they really hit it off when they discovered their shared love of old movies and musicals. Since then its become their bit, they speak to each other as if they’re in an old black and white movie.

Their time is cut short today though when a voice calls out from the kitchen. 

“Steve! Could you come here please? I uh ... need some assistance.” Joyce called out. Steve and El share a look and then make their way to the kitchen. They find Joyce in front of the stove looking increasingly stressed, she turns to them as they enter and heaves a sigh of relief at Steve. 

“Oh thank god, okay, so um I’m making the cranberry sauce and, well, I’m not entirely sure _what_ happened but something did.” She stated embarrassedly, Steve just smiles comfortingly at her before making his way over to the stove to see exactly what went wrong. Joyce looks at El and gives her her signature motherly smile before pulling her in a short hug. 

“Happy Thanksgiving sweetie!” El returns her hug happily. Joyce moves to go back to the stove before she stops short and turns back to El. “Oh, Will’s out at castle Byers, he wanted me to tell you when you got here.” She says.

El smiles and quickly hurries back to the front door to get her jacket and head out to find Will. 

El had see Castle Byers before of course, it was the first place she met Will. That meeting hadn’t exactly left happy connotations in her brain _(sometimes at night she can still see Will there, freezing, dying, waiting for someone to save him, his terrified voice asking her to “hurry”. Sometimes her dreams tell her she wasn’t fast enough. Sometimes her dreams tell her he was already gone when she got there, just like Barbra. It’s these nights she wakes up screaming and crying and has to be lulled back to sleep by the physical arms of Hop and mental words of Will, because he’s right there, he’s always right there.). _

But Will loved Castle Byers it was his safe place, even through everything. So El made an effort to love it too, but she has never physically been there before. Will tried to take her on one of the days that she stays with them but Jonathan didn’t like them being out there all on their own when he’s watching Steve inside, so it got postponed. 

As El stepped outside she quickly realized that she didn’t actually know _where _Castle Byers was, so she honed in on the tingling at the back of her mind and despite the crisp chill of November in Indiana, she felt the warmth bleed over once more. 

_“Will?” She can feel the moment he tunes into the connection too, and she can feel him smile brightly. Yea, he’s always right there._

Will directions her through the woods until she comes outside of a tiny shack covered in tarps and blankets. El takes a moment to calm her anxiety, they’re fine, they’re _safe, _the demogorgon is dead, its okay. It works for the most part, she moves up to the make shift door and knocks. 

_“Password?” A teasing voice calls. El finds herself smiling despite herself._

_“**I** need a password?” She replies in mock offense, she can hear Will chuckle both in her head and from behind the curtain. _

_“If you want entrance then yes, you need the password.” He replied. El thinks for moment, trying to come up with what the password might be when suddenly she hears it._

_”Linked.” _

_“You may enter.” _

El pushes back the ‘door’ and finds Will sitting on a pile of blankets in the corner. He’s wearing a thick jean jacket, black jeans with converse’s and, as previously agreed, a yellow shirt that matches El’s dress because yes they are _those people_. She smiles at him widely and he returns it. No matter how much time they spend together it never feels like enough, and El hopes it never ends. 

“Linked? Really?” She asks as she sits down, they don't usually speak out-loud when they’re alone _(and sometimes they forget too when they’re with others, which is fun to try and brush off just how they knew what the other was saying without saying anything) _but in Castle Byers it feels right, it feels safe.

”I thought it was fitting!” He says with a huff. He’s drawing something El cant see. El’s learned that this is where he comes when he wants to draw in peace, the entire fort is covered head to toe in drawing and photos, all of The Party. 

“Whatcha drawing?” She asks after a moment of looking around. She’s only just got here but already she can tell why Will loves this place, and she knows she’ll love it too.

”I’ve been working on Christmas presents for the rest of the Party and my family.” El hums in response. She loves Will’s art, he’s supplied her with a lot in the past few weeks. She goes back to looking around and notices that in one of the corners of the fort is a stack of drawings poking out from where they were hidden under a stack of books. Her eyebrows curl in confusion, she can just see the lines of a familiar mop of hair. _Mike. _El wonders for a moment why Will has drawings of Mike hidden in his fort, but before she can ask Will moves to get her attention. She turns back to him and sees that he has put up the rest of his art stuff. 

“So, what do you think?” He asks gesturing to the fort, he looks almost nervous. They had discussed before El’s fear of the fort. But now that feels like just a distant memory. She smiles softly as she looks around one last time, making sure to soak in everything about it.

”It’s ... peaceful. Quiet. Pretty. I like it.” Will’s entire face is engulfed in a smile. And El thinks ... yea she loves it here too. 

—

They spend a few hours just chatting, Will shows her some of his drawings and teaches her about some of his art supplies. El loves just spending time with Will, its like when they’re alone they escape into their own little world, nothing bad exists, its just them. Sadly they cant live in this world forever and soon enough Jonathan is outside the door calling them back to the house. The trek back to the house is quiet but comfortable, Jonathan walks back with them, keeping an ever watchful eye. El and Jonathan haven’t had much bonding yet, she likes him and he’s nice to her but they just haven’t found that connection that her and Will have, or her and Joyce, or even at this point Steve. Their common ground lies in Will, and so far only Will. It pains El slightly because she wants to get closer to Jonathan, not just because of Will wants her too, but because she loves this family and everyday she feels like she’s becoming more and more apart of it, and it hurts to admit how much she wants to be apart of this family. And if Jonathan doesn't accept her then that cant happen, so she tries, she tries to find the footing in this relationship but Jonathans so guarded. El doesn't even know where to begin.

—

Eventually they make it back to the warmth of the Byers’ home, inside it smells heavenly _(and El guesses thats largely due to Steve’s cooking). _The TV in the living room is playing the Macy’s day parade _(an event Mike had informed her she would love) _and El could hear lively conversations coming from the kitchen and dining room. Following the sound of Hop’s voice El found herself in front of a sight that made her chest swell. Hop and Joyce were chatting while leaning against a counter, they were close together, closer than they needed to be and Hop’s eyes _shined _with a kind of happiness she had never seen. She could watch them all day just enjoying some of her favorite people being happy, but her internal musings were cut abruptly short when Will speaks up next her.

”Hey Max! Glad you made it!” He yells happily and El heart feels like it stops for a moment. For a second she cant move, unsure of what to do. Should she turn to Max, should she address her too? Her breath is caught in her throat and she can feel her nerves building.

”Hey, um thanks for inviting me. You really didn’t have too, I don't want to crash your family time.” Max replies sheepishly, and its her voice that makes El finally turn and look at her. The swelling in her chest is growing and she can feel Will’s eyes on her and his confusion, El wishes she could reassure him but she’s just as confused if not more. Why does she react this way, Max is just a person, she’s just a girl. _(a pretty pretty girl.)_

It’s Joyces voice who cuts through this time. “Please sweetie its no problem, the more the merrier!” Joyce then goes over to Max and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder before leaning down and continuing “and you know you are _always _welcome in our home okay?” Max’s face pinkens and she just gives a small nod as Joyce heads back to Hop. 

El takes in Max’s appearance for a moment. Will wasn’t kidding when he said she had quite a few bruises, though most of them were fading now. Her face still looks soft, but it also looks slightly more angular, like she had lost weight since El had seen her and her eyes looked sunken and dark. And that feeling returns in El’s chest that tells her to pull this girl close and soothe away all her worries. But now is _not _the time to be thinking about that.

Max had her hair down as always in her wild red curls, though it seems she put in some effort of taming them down a bit. She was wearing what looked like a worn out pair of jeans and an over-sized sweater that was stripped in a rainbow of colours. She looked _pretty. _Which yes, she always does, but this is different. The biggest difference is her eyes, not the outside thats dark and shallow, her _eyes. _They’re slightly glossed over and lit up like stars. _Happy. _El’s heart catches again as she breathes in the sight. 

And then those bright eyes meet hers and for a moment it feels like El’s world stops turning, time is standing still as they stare at each other and El is about to smile at her when something happens, those bright eyes harden and turn away just as quickly as they had came. Something breaks inside El and she doesn't understand, doesn't understand what just happened and doesn't understand her reaction to it. But then Will’s hand is in hers and he’s pulling her to look at him, she does and is met with worried eyes. It’s now that she realizes her own eyes have unshed tears in them _and she doesn’t understand._

She wipes her eyes quickly and tries her best to give him a reassuring smile but Will isn’t having it. He pulls her away from the dining room all the way until they’re in his room. And its not until she sits on his floor that she realizes how much her chest aches. And she doesnt understand but she cant breathe and she’s shaking. The tears are falling without permission and El feels so _stupid. _Why is she reacting like this? She doesnt understand she just doesn’t understand. Sobs are escaping her body and she doesnt even feel like herself, she feels like time is in slow motion and she’s watching this scene from behind a glass. And then warm arms wrap around her. 

_“Hey shhh shhh shhh look at me.” **Will**. She brings her eyes up to meet his and feels the tiniest bit of calm in this storm._

_”thats it. Now I need you to breathe with me okay?” He starts deep breathing in and out while counting, and motions for her to follow. It takes a little bit but finally her breathing calms down and she feels drained but otherwise okay again. _

_“What ... was that?” She asks Will in confusion and fear. _

_“That was a panic attack, I get them too. You’re okay now though.” He replied softly. _

_“But I dont understand ... why?” Will just looks at her sadly. _

_“It could be anything really. Big things, small things, things that trigger you. And sometimes its nothing.” El nods but she doesnt feel any better. She can still see the moment Max’s eyes changed, she guarded herself once again **because of El. **And El feels guilty because, well, she deserved it. She has been nothing but hostile since she met Max and it was stupid of her to think that everything between them would be fine just because she decided it would be. Will looks at her in understanding and her chest aches again at the realization he can hear her thinking. _

_“It’s okay El.” He offers kindly. _

_“I know you feel bad, but maybe you can take this and try and be friends with her. You know build some bridges. Then the party can all be together.” He continues, his eyes lighting slightly at the idea, and El wants too, so much. _

_“I ... dont know how.” She admits. Making friends is not exactly El’s strong suit, she’s kind of just stumbled into friendships before. But Will just smiles again, brighter still._

_”you just ... be nice to her. She’ll come around eventually.” _

_And then El’s chest fills again with something that feels like hope and she smiles back at him. She’ll come around. Eventually. _

— 

Thanksgiving dinner El has decided is amazing. So many foods of all different kinds, and family. Just _family. _El wishes everyday was like this. 

El takes Will’s advice and tries to be nice to Max, first she greets her but Max just gives a stiff nod in El’s direction and goes back to chatting with Steve. El tries not to be discouraged and continues trying all throughout the meal, but to no avail. Max is lovely to everyone else. She talks animatedly about movies and games and school with Will, Music and surprisingly books with Jonathan, sports with Steve, she charms Joyce with her compliments and they chitchat about things El doesnt know, she even talks to Hop about his job, but to El its nothing but _ice. _And god El misses her fire. 

After dinner they all pile around the living room to watch some holiday movies and El is glad for the break from conversation because at least Max’s silence is everywhere not just to her. El and Will are sitting cuddled up on the floor and Max is sitting on the other side of Will, a few feet of distance between them. Steve is sitting in the giant chair and Jonathan is sitting in front of him on the floor, El notices how their cheeks redden every-time they accidentally brush against each other. And on the couch sit Hop and Joyce, they’re not touching but their as close as they can be without it.

They finish two movies before the doorbell rings. Max is the one to answer it, as she was closest to the door and as it opens El can see familiar Jet black hair standing on the porch. 

“What are you doing here?” Mike asks in a huff, but Max just rolls her eyes.

”Nice to see you too, Mike.” She doesn't wait for a response before she turned away and slid back to her place next to Will, which just makes Mike look even more offended. He stands there for a moment just looking dumbfounded.

“Hey asshole you’re blocking the door!” An irritated voice yells from behind Mike, and Nancy pushes past him into the living room. She smiles politely at everyone before going to sit next to Jonathan in front of Steve, she gives both of them a Kiss on their foreheads that turn both of their faces into tomatoes. Once Mike finally steps in El sees that Lucas and Dustin are here too. 

“Henderson!” Steve yells excitedly and Dustin lights up. “Harrington! You’re here!” Dustin goes over to him and they do a weird little handshake. Jonathan snorts a little before chiming in with “yea, he’s _always _here.” Nancy smacks his arm playfully but Steve just smiles at him and says “ah you know you love having me around. I keep life exciting.” Jonathan doesn't reply but the redness deepens as Nancy giggles beside him. 

Lucas pipes up next, staring nervously at Max, which makes a pit form in El’s stomach.

“Hey Max, its uh , good too see you!” He says stuttering, Max just nods at him in return. He stands there staring at her and the spot next to her anxiously for a few moment before Max sighs and rolls her eyes before asking.

“Are you going to sit down or not Stalker?” Her voice is soft, which contrasts her words and Lucas lights up before hurriedly moving to sit next to her, and El notices that Max absentmindedly shifts closer to him. El pointedly _ignores_ the pit thats just growing wider and wider and wider. 

This left just Mike who was still standing by the front door staring at everyone in confusion and disbelief. He kept switching between looking at Max and Lucas, to Will, then to Dustin who was now sitting in the spot closest to Steve without sitting next to Jonathan and Nancy. He keeps looking to the spot next to Will, the spot he is usually in, where Max is sitting with a pointed expression on her face, like she’s daring him to say something. And he almost does but El doesn’t want to ruin Thanksgiving by Mike making a scene so before he can even get a word out she cuts him off.

“Mike.” He looks at her in shock, like he’d forgotten she was there. “Come sit.” She said kindly but carefully, the irritation behind his eyes eased and with one last dramatic sigh he made his way over to El’s other side and sat down. Will made eye contact with her and gave her a thankful smile.

And here they stayed for a few more hours. The tension finally settled out and they were left with just comfort.

Then it was time for dessert, which instead of Steve was supplied by Nancy. Everyone besides the adults made their way to the kitchen to get some of the cheese-cake. El had no idea what that was but her knowledge of what both of those things meant separately made her very fearful of whatever this creation was supposed to be. But Will just gave a look and a _“trust me.” _And well, El always did, so she got a slice and made her way back to her seat. El had never been so glad she had trusted Will because cheese-cake is _amazing. _It is also not in fact cheese _or _cake and it makes absolutely no sense but El doesnt care because it’s delicious. 

Once everyone is done with their cake, the movies forgotten about, they all break off into their own groups. The adults went outside for a smoke _(El and Will have both been trying to convince their perspective parents to quit, but its taking longer than expected)_, the teens went to Jonathans room because Steve was starting to get sore from all the standing and cooking and wanted to lie down. And that left The Party and Max in the living room.

Conversation had been flowing like normal for the most part, but El could feel Mike’s tense gaze that was trained on Max. El and Will kept sharing looks and thoughts just hoping they could make it through the night without having a blowout, and for the most part it was working. Mike was still tense and brash but otherwise he was keeping his mouth shut.

The curveball came when Max seemed to finally have enough.

“Okay seriously what the _fuck_ is your problem?” She angrily shouted taking the whole group by surprise. Mike just looked at her in shock for a moment before his face quickly morphed into his own anger. 

“What are you talking about?” He asked faining ignorance, but that just seemed to make it worse as Max jumped up out of her seat, Mike quickly followed suit. 

“Ugh are you kidding me? You have been sitting there glaring at me since you got here. What is your issue.” 

“_You’re_ my issue. I don’t understand why you’re here. You are not apart of our party, we did not all agree to you joining us-“ Mike started to yell at her but she cut him off.

”No, you mean _you _didn’t agree. Everybody else wants me here, Lucas, Dustin, even Will asked me to join them for Thanksgiving. No one else has a problem with me besides you!” She yells back at him, he seems to falter for a second before regaining his composer. 

“That’s not true, right guys?” he looks around for everyone’s agreements but doesnt get any. He looks desperately at Will but Will is staring at the floor, El can feel that he’s trying not cry. She hates that Mike is doing this, she loves him she does but this time he’s wrong and the only person who can convince him of it cant even look at him. El puts her hands on Will’s and he carefully looks up at her. He looks terrified but she just gives his hand a squeeze. 

_“Stand up to him. He’ll listen to you.” He looks at her unsure. _

“Will?” Mike pleads and El can feel something break inside Will. But he just gives her a nod, tries his best to harden his face and finally turns to Mike. Mike looks taken aback by the look on Will’s face.

”No.” Will states simply and everyone’s head whip to him, Lucas and Dustin had both been staring at the floor trying to stay out of the fight but even they look surprised. 

“.. what?” Mike asks softly, his voice breaking. His anger is gone and now he just looks like a kicked puppy, but its Will who’s mad now. 

“I said no Mike. You’re not right okay? Max is, you’re the only one who didn’t agree to her joining the party, we’ve all agreed even El-“ Everyone’s eyes snap to El’s now, including Max’s who look confused and ... hopeful? El’s eyes soften at her and she gives her the smallest nod to say, yes, I want you here, and she tries to ignore the anxiety building in her chest. But Max smiles, _she smiles, _and for the first time its directed at El and she feels like she could die now and everything would be okay. But their moment is cut short by Will continuing his speech. 

“You don’t get to be the sole decider of who is or isn’t in our party, we’re a democracy, and the majority voted that we like Max and we want her to stay.” He stands up now and is baring into Mike’s eyes, Mike looks like he wants to cry from Will’s outburst and _anger towards him_, and he also looks ashamed? Guilty? Will seems to notice this and his face finally softens. He steps closer to Mike now gently. He speaks up again, his voice much quieter. 

“I know that you had a hard year, we all did okay? I know you missed El and you thought Max was trying to replace her but she’s _not. _Look El is here, she can’t be replaced because she’s here. And _I’m here.” _Will is almost whispering now, and Mike’s tears are falling silently now. 

“I know that you’ve felt alone lately, you thought you lost El and then you thought you were losing me again and you were scared and angry because you couldn’t do anything. But Mike. _We’re okay. _We’re safe, you dont have to be afraid anymore. And you dont have to be angry. Especially not at Max because _none_ of this is her fault. Okay?” Mike nods softly before falling into Will’s arms, Will holds him tightly. El gets up and joins them and it feels like something between them is finally settling. 

Mike is whispering ‘I’m sorry’s’ into their arms. “I know, but were not the ones you need to apologize too.” Will whispers, Mike tenses for a moment before releasing it again and nodding. “And hey, I think if you gave her a chance you would really like Max.” Will whispered so that no one else could here it, then he looked at El “both of you.” And El’s breath hitched again. Because she already _does _like Max. She just ... doesn’t know what to do with that. 

Finally Mike pulls away, he tries his best to clean up his face before looking back at Will for reassurance, Will just smiles brightly and Mike nods. He then turns and looks at Max, who’s expression had been soft and concerned while watching them but as soon as she looked at Mike her signature hardened expression was back. Mike stepped up to her slowly and carefully. 

“Max?” He asks timidly. She gets back up and meets him halfway, still guarded. “Hmm?” 

“I’m ... sorry. I had no right to decide you couldn’t be in our party, and I shouldn’t have been so harsh to you. It wasn’t your fault, I was just overwhelmed and I took it out on you and I’m sorry.” He says sincerely, Max’s expression never falters _(and something in El says its years of practice). _Mike sticks his hand out. 

“I’m sorry. I made first strike and so I’m here admitting my wrong and trying to make up for it. Max, will you please join our Party?”

Max looks at him with a stare El never wants to be on the other end of, before she finally heaves a large sigh, rolls her eyes and shouts “You’re a fucking idiot.” Mike looks down in shame for second. And then Max grabs his hand and shakes it. Mike snaps his head back at her and she just smiles at him, and god El loves her smile and so she smiles too, and soon everyone joins in and until they’re all laughing hysterically and Dustin is crying from laughing so hard and El is filled with that sense again. That sense of full. _Whole. Happy. _

The rest of the evening goes by uneventful and soon everyone has called home and convinced their parents to let them have a sleepover. _Their first official sleepover as a complete Party. _Nancy decides to stay too, and Hop sleeps on the couch. Everyone gets some of Will’s pajamas to change into.

El is waiting outside of the bathroom to change. Max comes out and they make nervous eye contact before Max quickly steps out of the door and El starts to make her way in, but before she can close the door Max turns back around nervously. 

“Hey - wait.” She says unsure and El stops. 

“... yes?” She asks as kindly as she can, trying not to ruin whatever calmness they’ve seem to come too. 

“I just ... I just wanted to say thanks ... for saying you wanted me in the party.” Max says quietly, her entire face is ablaze and that oh so familiar feeling is back. 

“Technically Will said that.” El replies before she can stop herself. Max falters for a second and El internally curses herself, Max says a quick okay and starts to turn away but El grabs ahold of her wrist to stop her. 

_Electricity_. 

El almost pulls her hand back at the feeling. Max whips her head around to look at El’s hand on her wrist and then meets El’s eyes, El gives her the softest smile she can manage while she tries to ignore the feeling of heat radiating from Max. 

“But I do. I want you in the Party.” El says simply, she can hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Max’s face is crimson and her eyes look like fire. That intense blue fire that appears when its burning too hot, but its so beautiful to look at. And then she’s smiling again, but its different it’s embarrassed, or timid, El’s not sure, but she loves it, she never wants it to go away. 

“Thanks. That uh, means a lot.” Max finally replies and they just stand their for a moment staring into each other eyes. It occurs to El that this is the first time they’ve ever touched. And looking at Max’s face she’s overcome with the knowledge that this is it. _This is Max happy._ She’s happy, and its because of El, El made her happy. She feels like she could cry, because this girl in front of her is so pretty and El’s heart feels like its going to burst out of her chest. 

Finally after a few moments Max’s gaze shifts back to their hands and nerves renter El’s body, she quickly removes her hand from Max’s wrist and ignores the empty feeling that follows. Max looks back up at her and gives her a small smile before turning back around and heading to the living room. 

El turns back to the bathroom and finally closes the door. However instead of changing she finds herself sliding down the back of the door and just sitting there, smiling wider than she thinks she ever has, and then she’s crying a little. But its good. It’s so good. 

—

El finally joins the Party and they all get into their sleeping positions. Will in-between Mike and El, and then Lucas and Dustin, and then Max. 

They put on more holiday movies, and El cant help but smile to herself. She cant stop, her heart still hasn’t calmed down. 

Today was the best day ever, and El decided that Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday. 

_(And it totally isn’t just because of pretty girls with smiles the whole world could orbit around)_

_(or ... that’s what El will tell herself)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew an emotional roller coaster that was! But eyyyye Elmax developments, I originally wasn’t going to have them be civil yet, but I knew I was going to mend the Max/Mike friendship this chapter and I just couldn’t conceivably do that with Max and El still hating each other. They’re not friends yet and we still have a bit before more development but they’re going to be nicer now, less tension. I hope everything feels like it flowed nice, and was natural and not rushed or choppy! Also were going to have some fun devolments next chapter ooooh. Anyways I hope y’all like this chapter, if you do leave a kudos and if you feel like it a comment! (Comments fill my soul with happiness and also fuel me to continue writing this story, even if sometimes I’m bad at replying to them) 
> 
> Tumblr: strangestthings-friendswemade
> 
> Here’s the preview for next chapter!
> 
> —
> 
> Mike leaves with a dejected look at Will. After El is sure he’s out of earshot she turns back to Will who now sobbing quietly. Trained, El’s learned, after life with his father.  
She studies him and his feeling for a moment before finally, something clicks.  
“I think i understand now.”  
“No you dont! No one does.”  
“Will please talk to me.”  
“Just drop it please. Can we please just drop this?”  
“Will, why is Mike making you sad.”
> 
> —


	5. Snowball.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Overwhelmed would be a scarce understatement for what she feels. There’s so many people El doesn’t even know what to do with herself. Blue and white balloons and streamers litter the gym, dampening down its menacing memories. A giant glittery sign that reads Snowball is almost floating over the dance floor.

November 26th, 1984 

_Today’s Word of the Day is: Harmony - (n.) An orderly or pleasing combination of elements in a whole. _

_—_

After Thanksgiving, life for El calmed down again, but not in a way she would have liked.

Once school for The Party started again they were all too busy with midterms and tests and studying to be seen much of. All El had for the next week _(and the weeks to come) _were the Byers’, but even though she still spent the days with them Jonathan and Will were busy with their own schoolwork.

Despite the fact that they both stayed home they were still required to complete their work and go and take their midterms and finals at the actual school themselves. The only person who wasn’t busy was Steve, because he was taking a break from _all _school, not just physically being in school. He had a pretty bad concussion and was ordered to rest and take time away from any strenuous brain activities by his doctors, so El spent most of her time at the Byers’ with him watching Old Movie Musicals in the living room while Will and Jonathan study away in their rooms. 

So that’s where she sat now, cuddled on the couch with Steve watching _Breakfast at Tiffanys. _Jonathan and Will hadn’t been seen for hours but every now and then El could feel Will sigh with frustration and a few times she had gone to check on Jonathan and found him lying face down on his bedroom floor, an open school book next time him mocking his despair. 

El can feel herself starting to sway towards sleep, the natural ease that comes from being in this house with these people, even if they barely do anything all day, lulls her to sleep most days before Hop ever arrives. The one thing keeping her awake now is that she’s cold. They have as many blankets as possible but its almost December and the chill from outside is invading the living room through the thin walls. But nonetheless, she loves these days more than she knows how to articulate.

El lets out a deep content sigh. Curled up on the couch, Steve singing along quietly to _Moonriver, _El thought for not the first time that she could be happy to stay right here forever. 

Joyce got home near the end of the movie, she was exhausted but she never let it show. She forced Will to stop working as he seemed to be trying to finish _all _of his work in one go, where as Jonathan had barely got anything done that he actually needed to do.

Apparently Jonathan wasn’t doing great in Math _(at least, El guesses from the multiple times she’s heard him yell in defeat from his room “what the fuck are numbers??”) _Steve offered to help him but Jonathan just laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world, and thanked Steve for the comedic relief. Steve for his part looked offended, though he tried to hid it, when El asked why Jonathan had laughed at his offer Steve informed her that he wasn’t exactly known around school for being smart.

But then he leaned down close, with his signature charismatic smirk, and whispered for only her to hear _“but just between you and me, its his loss because I actually have straight A’s in math.” _He then had to explain what straight A’s were and why they mattered but once he did El laughed right along with him.

Steve Harrington is an enigma _(Day 342’s Word of the Day) _El is coming to learn, sometimes she thinks she only just beginning to know how much. 

Once Will joined them on the couch El was done for, she fell asleep barely five minutes after she laid her head on his shoulder. It’s been dawning on El a lot more recently just how _warm _Will is, unnaturally so. No matter how cold it is he never seems to be chilly and he always radiates warmth in a way no one else does. Some days she wonders if that’s normal, or if maybe that’s another power of his they don't realize even _is _a power, but tonight she’s too tired to worry about it. She just wants to stay and enjoy her warmth a little longer.

Eventually Hop arrives. El is woken up by gentle hands shaking her and a small tingling sensation telling her its time to wake up. She groans in response, not ready to face the cold drive ahead of her. She blinks blearily and first she sees the kindest hazel eyes staring at her and she’s reminded that everything is okay. Then she sees the eyes of a man she’s starting to consider her father, and he’s looking at her with an unusual expression El can’t quite place. Her brow’s furrow in confusion and she sits up a little fast, anxiety already pooling in her stomach. 

“Is everything ... okay?” El asks, her voice wavering with uncertainty. Hop’s eyes soften instinctively, he gives a tiny smile and some of the knots loosen in her stomach. 

“Yea kid everything’s fine. I just uh, got back, from a meeting. With Dr. Owens.” He states with wary glance at Joyce. She just looks at him incredulously, her face scrunching up uncomfortably.

“Dr. Owens? My doctor from the lab?” Will asks from beside El, he feels on edge, as he always does when the lab and doctors are brought up _(another trait they unfortunately share). _El’s hand tightens comfortingly on his almost instinctively and some of the rigid tension seems to seep from his shoulders. Just a little.

Hop gives him an apologetic look. “Uh yea him, he’s actually a pretty okay dude. And since he owed me and El here for saving his life, I decided to cash in on a favor.” He answered, looking at first uncertain, trenching the dangerous waters that were talking about the Lab, but then by the end he looked pleased with himself. Like he was in on a secret no one else knew. 

Everyone’s confusion grew but none more than El’s. 

“Fave-or?”

Everyone’s heads swerved towards her at once. For a moment she was uncomfortable by the sudden attention and embarrassed that it seems she once again was the only person to not understand. El looks away quickly, she wanted to take the question back but soft hands found hers and she turned back to kind eyes. 

_“Favor- its when someone does something for you, they usually wouldn’t, because you did something for them first.” Will supplied. El smiled at him thankfully. Will always understood, and he never judged her when she didn’t. She loved him for that._

“Ahh okay. Fave-or. I got it.” She acknowledged, sounding the word out once more to make sure she was right. She turned back to have Hop continue his story but instead found Hop, Joyce, and Steve all staring at her baffled.

She didn’t understand at first and just stared back at them, eyes squinting in that way that meant she was once again lost. Until it dawned on her, oh, she replied to Will’s thoughts _out-loud._ Or maybe he thought instead of spoke. Either way one of them messed up, and there is really no way to explain that one away without playing dumb. 

“Sorry, I uh .. just remembered what fave-or meant, from where Will had told me ... before.” El stammered, her eyes switching between their faces uncertainly. Thankfully though they either seemed to buy it or decided just not to question it. The silence was getting more awkward by the second and El kind of felt like she was bursting at the seems in tension. Finally she cleared her throat before speaking.

“So ... favor?” El asked nervously. Hop’s eyes just shined with the smile that was slowly creeping over his face. He let a few anticipating moments pass.

”Guess who’s going to the Snowball.” 

El’s pretty sure Mike could have heard her squeals from his house.

—

That Friday El found herself at a tiny dress boutique about 30 minutes outside of Hawkins with Will, Jonathan and Nancy. 

El had been extremely excited that she was allowed to go to the snowball, its all she could think about for days. Will had to end up explaining to her what actually _happened _at the snowball _(she loved Mike but his explanation from last year was just, well, **confusing**)_.

He explained that it was just a school dance that was themed for Christmas. You go, you dress up, you drink weird punch and eat tiny food, and if you’re lucky, you dance with someone. Someone you like. _(El tried to ignore how defeated Will sounded when he added, “which in your case, means Mike.”)._

It sounded like a dream, like something out of a movie. It wasn’t until Wednesday that it struck her she had absolutely no idea what you’re supposed to wear to a dance _(or how to dance, but that was neither here nor there) _and she’s pretty sure that even if she _did _know she wouldn’t own anything like that. Will wasn’t helpful on that front, nor was Hop, El considered asking Steve but she doubted he would be anymore helpful. So she decided to ask Nancy for help, but it had to be discreet because they weren’t telling Mike she could go yet, a surprise it was supposed to be. 

Hop said that if they _really _needed to go shopping it would be safer to go out of town, and that he would feel better if they went with someone else too. So Nancy asked Jonathan to come. El asked Will because of course she did. But Will didn’t seem too thrilled to come, in fact Will didn’t seem too thrilled about anything to do with the dance. He didn’t really even want to go, said it was a waste of time, but El _needed _him there, she didn’t think she could do it without him so finally he caved. Which is how they ended up here, surrounded by pink and frills and weird poofy dresses that looked more like someone threw a bunch of different coloured fabrics into a shredder and called it a dress rather than a planned idea. But what did El know? 

Nancy started instinctively moving around the shop while Jonathan looked uncomfortable and Will just looked uninterested. He’d been so closed off this week, worryingly so. El had tried asking what was wrong but he brushed it off as just being tired from all of his work. Almost immediately within stepping into the store he found a place to sit out of sight and pulled out his sketchbook and checked out of the world for the time being. Jonathan just stood in a corner awkwardly, eyes darting in every which direction like he would rather be anywhere else in the world but here. El sighed deeply to herself, sometimes the Byers’ boys just don’t make any sense.

A few minutes pass before El quickly realized she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, and thus decided to just follow Nancy around. Nancy would periodically show a dress to El to get her opinion on it but El didn’t really have any. They all looked like everything and nothing all at once. Poofs and patterns of every kind. El didn’t even know what _colour _she liked, let alone what type of fabric or style, she barely even knew what any of those meant. Eventually Nancy seemed to get the hint and started collecting dresses _she _thought El would like. 

El went and found Will after no longer feeling extremely vital to the shopping process, he was sketching away on in a bench in the dressing room. El could feel his emotions swimming around, but so much of what he was feeling was unfamiliar to her. She could feel sadness, and a bit of irritation as well, but other than that El was clueless.

She sat by his side as gently as she could as not to scare him. He didn’t even look up at her presence and part of her wondered if he even knew she was there. She waited for a moment to see if he would acknowledge her but nothing. Finally she turned to him ever so slightly.

”Hey.” She began. Will’s pencil stopped moving but he still didn’t turn to look at her.

They’d been working on trying to speak outloud more, after their multiple slip ups recently. They didn’t want anyone catching on so they decided to keep the telepathic conversations to when they were apart, or just really needed to say something they didn’t want others to hear.

”Hi.” Will mumbled after a few seconds passed. His entire body was rigid, his hand turning white from his death grip on his pencil. El didn’t understand what was happening, she’d never seen Will act this way. _Especially _not to her. She let a small sigh pass through her lips as she looked down at her hands nervously. 

A few minutes pass between them in stiff silence. Will doesn’t start drawing again but he doesn’t offer to speak anymore either. El guesses that means she has to take the reins on this conversation. 

“Will?” She asks timidly. Watching him carefully in concern, he barely reacts, so far away in thought. His eyes are trained on the wooden floor that could definitely use some sweeping. The thing about Will is, no matter how much he tries to suppress his feelings and pretend that _everything is fine,_ his eyes betray him every-time. He’s so expressive usually that no matter how hard he tries every emotion he feels swim around his hazel eyes in blinking lights. So El just needs to see his eyes, and she’ll understand. She _needs _to understand.

”Will!” She tries again, louder this time, grabbing his tense hand with her own. He finally looks at her and El wants to cry.

Because for the first time, theres nothing there. It’s like looking into a blank crystal ball. His eyes are unfocused. Even as he looks right into her own, its like Will isn’t even there anymore. Panic starts rising in her chest rapidly and for a split second her mind start swirling in the possibility of whether _he _is back. But before she can properly freak out Will blinks. Multiple times in quick succession. Then he rubs his eyes with his free hand, when he looks into her eyes again he’s back. Not completely. Theres still this weird cloud over his eyes, something like a visor. He’s there, but not _fully_. 

Will’s cheeks redden and he gives El a sheepish smile, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

”hey. Sorry, I think I zoned out there.” He murmured. El’s chest softens ever so slightly but the worry that had gripped her throat hadn’t seized its grip.

”Are you ... Okay?” She asked unsure. Will tried to smile but it was weak, tiny in a way Will’s smiles never were.

”I’m fine.” He replied too quickly to be true. El _wanted _to push but before she could Nancy came barging into the dressing room. 

“God there you guys are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” She shouted with a raise of her arms in frustration, clearly annoyed at their seeming disappearance. Will eyes immediately found the floor again and his face was burning in shame, though El didn’t entirely understand why. 

“ sorry.” Will whispered sheepishly but Nancy just ignored him and turned to El. Excitement was overtaking her features.

“I found it!” She exclaimed with a giant smile. El’s forehead just scrunched in confusion.

“found?” 

“Your dress!” She squealed.

El’s eyes widened and she felt her own excitement bubbling again, she’d forgotten why they were even here. Nancy’s gaze shifted to Will.

”okay boys out of the dressing room. Go find Jonathan, I’m sure he’s pacing in a corner somewhere avoiding all eye contact with any pink to protect his _fragile _masculinity.” Nancy ordered with a roll of her eyes. Will looked startled at being addressed, but he gathered his stuff and left without objection. Nancy rounded back to El and handed her a blue dress to try on. 

After trying it on, and it fitting perfectly, El decided she _loved _the dress. They bought it and a pair of shoes to match and El’s whole body was thrumming with excitement for next week that she forgot about how weird Will was acting. 

They ended up all going to eat at a tiny diner down the street from the boutique, in a dark booth in the back corner so it would be harder for anyone to recognize her. The lunch was filled with laughter and conversations about everything and nothing, Will was actively participating again. Telling them thrilling stories about adventures The Party had gotten up too, or what their recent campaigns had been about. Jonathan and Nancy were joking back and forth from their side of the booth and Will was cradling El’s hand in his on theirs. El noticed that when she started telling a story about Steve and the musicals they had been watching recently, and how he always sings along, both Nancy _and _Jonathan got this fond look on their faces. She made a mental note to tell Steve about it later.

Everything was going great.

Until Nancy made a joke about the dance being El and Mike’s first real date _(Then explaining what a date was) _and El’s entire face felt unexplainably hot for some reason, and just like that Will was gone again. There, but not really. His body remained physically next to her but by the look in his eyes, and the storm in his chest, El would’ve guessed he was back in the upside down. 

Nothing sat right for the rest of the day. Or the rest of the week. Will had barely said much to anyone since that day and El just _didn’t _understand. She so desperately wanted to understand. 

—

December 7th, 1984

_Today’s Word of the Day is: Different - (adj.) Not ordinary; unusual. Dissimilar._

—

It’s the day of the Snowball and El feels so overcome with anxious energy she’s pretty sure she could fly. _(Both figuratively and literally, because apparently that is a thing she can do.). _She’s spent most of the day just pacing around the cabin trying to find useless things to fill the time with.

Will and Jonathan had mid-terms at their respective schools today so El’s been alone at the cabin all day. Hop tries not to leave her alone anymore _(and not because he doesn’t trust her, but because he doesn’t want her to **feel **alone) _but everyone is either at work or at school and Steve is at his final doctors appointment before he’s given the all clear to go back to regular life.

_Slowly._

Which also means unfortunately he’s going back to his house, even though surprise surprise his parents still aren’t home. Joyce, Jonathan, Will and even El all tried to fight him on it, convince him to stay a little longer, at least until his parents matriculate again. But he refused, said he’d taken up too much of their hospitality already and _really _couldn’t stay any longer. El’s also pretty sure she saw him stuff an envelope of rent money Joyce forbid him from paying in the Byers’ kitchen before he left.

El doesn’t know who was more devastated, her or Jonathan _(though Jonathan surely won’t admit it, El can tell he’s become quite fond of Steve) _but Steve promises he’ll still see them all the time. And now that he’s medically not in danger anymore Hop has given him the go ahead to become El’s full-time baby-sitter until he goes back to school, so that Jonathan can go back to work.

Either way that left El alone today, and for most of the night until Hop gets off and takes her to the Snowball. Nancy unfortunately had to get ready for the dance, which she is chaperoning, immediately after school and then head to the middle school to help set up. Which means she couldn’t help El get ready for the dance, which meant El was kind of on her own. Yesterday, while Mike was at the arcade with the rest of the party, Nancy showed her how to do her makeup and her hair for the dance. El tried to remember all of the steps now. Once she finished she looks in the mirror and swears she has no idea who’s looking back at her. 

It’s so ... different. Not bad, not good. Just different. A reflection of who, maybe, she would have been if she had grown up the way she was supposed to. A different her. _Different_.

\- 

El could feel Will’s elation as his test got out earlier and it made her chest swell with happiness. Everything’s been off since last week, Will’s been distant, guarded in a way he never is with her. And this is the first time she’s felt him feel a semblance of happiness all week. 

Once its almost time for the Party to make their way to the dance El can feel Will happiness growing. He’s laughing and dancing with Joyce and El wishes she could be there too, not alone in a cabin in the woods. Yes its her home, but she’s starting to wonder if the cabin really is a home without Hop in it. The sinking feeling in her chest tells her she _never_ wants to find out. 

-

Will informs her that he is in fact on his way to the dance now. He doesn’t sound as apprehensive as he had been during the week but he does sound jittery, almost anxious. El realized that aside from being the first dance he’s ever really been too, it’s also his first time back at school since _once again _disappearing for a week. El does her best to send him comforting thoughts and feelings and he sends her back his appreciation and reassurance that he’s _okay. _

She can feel his senses spike as he steps into the dance, slightly early because Jonathan had to set up his camera. He’s overwhelmed and stressed but also excited, and El’s own emotions are feeding off his energy. El can feel him laughing with Jonathan, and he starts explaining how the room looks and relaying the story Jonathan is telling him when suddenly he stops short. El’s confused. It’s like he’s a record that just scratched to an abrupt halt, his nerves are going haywire, breath quickening, almost panicking _but not. _

_“Will?” El asks, concern etching through her thoughts. It takes a moment but he finally seems to shake out of whatever trance he was in. _

_“Huh? Oh sorry I just ... saw something.” He replies absentmindedly, still only barely paying attention. _

_“Something?” _

_“Don’t worry about it, its fine.” El’s about to question him again when she feels his emotions change again, this time to nervous mixed with an unprecedented happiness. El is so confused. But then she hears a thought that is definitely not hers, but its so quiet and fleeting she wonders if she heard right. _

Their connection is still something they’re working on understanding. The most they can figure right now is that they essentially share a brainwave, almost like a radio but internal. You have to tune into the right channel but once you do thoughts are free game, feelings are almost a constant, and then sometimes things slip through the cracks. The connection is still bare right now, they can’t control it completely so sometimes they send things they _don’t mean too. _A thought or feeling that wasn’t supposed to leave the comfort of their brain that accidentally got transmitted. Most commonly when its something very strong, something that they just can’t suppress. It’s not too much of a problem since they don’t mind sharing everything with each other, but El’s been sensing Will desperately holding back something for the past few weeks.

_(They’ve also been working on being able to share memories, it takes a lot more effort and a lot of concentration and always ends in a nose bleed.)_

She’s not sure exactly why, but El is almost positive she wasn’t supposed to hear the tiny soft _Mike. _Something about it just felt a bit too personal to be shared, why she doesn’t know, its just Mike’s name after all. But its the way Will’s mind thought it, and the feelings that accompanied it that just makes El think _it wasn’t for her to hear. _And she doesn’t really know what to think about that. Mainly she’s just confused, and overcome with that feeling once again that she just wants to understand.

Whatever happened though is gone as soon as it came, and Will is back talking animatedly about Christmas break to Jonathan and Mike _(and El). _

-

Soon enough Hop arrives to take her to the dance. She’s practically jumping up and down on the way to the truck. 

Will informs her when Max and Lucas arrive, and El ignores how her pulse quickens ever so slightly at the girls name, and then when Dustin arrives. He’s apparently done _something _to his hair that Will tells El she just has to see to believe.

They start the drive to the dance, Hop said it would be safer and less conspicuous to arrive late so that she can easily blend into the crowd. The nerves are starting to set in. She’s never been around this many people before, let alone this many people her age. And plus this dance is in gym, which despite how much time has passed still brings up bad memories. 

She’s sitting in the car trying to control her own anxiety when she feels Wills skyrocket. He’s nervous and jittery and _panicked _and not in the good excited way he was before. El’s about to ask what’s wrong, already ready to burn the school to the ground if something from the upside down is back, or if someone is messing with Will, she’s fully prepared to break someone else’s arm if necessary. But before she can react Will quietly informs her that someone, a girl, asked him to dance. El’s panic immediately subsides and she lets out a small laugh _(Will’s on the other hand only seems to be increasing.)._

El’s happy he has someone to dance with _(though she doesn’t feel too thrilled the girl, whoever she is, called him zombie boy) _she’s been worried about him. His touchy ness this week in regards to the Snowball, especially whenever the topic of dancing came up, El was starting to worry that he felt bad about not having someone to dance with. But she’s glad he found someone, even though it seems he doesn’t feel too happy himself.

They reach the hallowed halls of Hawkins Middle school soon after. Parking next to where Joyce is sitting, smoking, outside her car. El jumps out to go see her before making her way towards the gym. Leaving Joyce and Hop together. 

Finally she’s outside the gym doors once again. The memory of the last time she was here floods her mind. The first time she ever saw Max. With a final deep breath in she pushes open the doors. 

-

Overwhelmed would be a scarce understatement for what she feels. There’s so many people El doesn’t even know what to do with herself. Blue and white balloons and streamers litter the gym, dampening down its menacing memories. A giant glittery sign that reads _Snowball _is almost floating over the dance floor_. _

El’s eyes immediately find Will first, dancing in the middle of the room with the aforementioned girl. He looks nervous, but when he meets El’s eyes his smile widens and she can’t help the grin that overtakes her face as well.

She’s about to wave to him before her vision focuses on the scene directly behind Will. Lucas is dancing with _Max. _Her breath hitches in her throat. That pit from Thanksgiving is back with a vengeance. Max looks beautiful, long red hair swaying with her movement, a multicolored sweater to match her red pants. For some unexplainable reason it hurts watching them dance together. Not overbearingly, just a dull kind of ache that surprise surprise _she doesn’t understand._

El everts her eyes as quickly as they had landed, scanning the rest of the room before finally they land on an oh so familiar face. The whole reason she’s here in the first place. _Mike_.

Her face erupts in a smile so wide her cheeks ache and he’s looking at her in disbelief. They start walking towards each other slowly, it hits El that this is exactly like a scene from one of those old romance movies she loves so much. The lovers who’s eyes meet across a crowd of people, slowly making their way towards each other like magnets. It feels so cliche and so perfect.

Theres a song she vaguely recognizes playing over the speakers. Steve had shown it to her once, she remembers because he got lost somewhere in thought while listening too it, it had made him sad so she spent the next few minutes trying to cheer him up with glitter and confetti from the craft project they were working on.

Her and Mike finally meet in the middle. They’re smiling and staring at each other like lovesick puppies, Mike’s face is turning redder with every passing second. 

“You look beautiful.” He tells her with a nervous smile. El just looks down at the ground, his eyes are so full of emotions it makes her scared to look into them. He looks around the room with fleeting eyes.

”Do you want to dance?” He asks with a twitch of his head towards the dance floor. El looks out to the sea of people all holding on to each other and swaying to the music. Everyone looks so happy and at ease, and for a moment she’s jealous of how easy this comes to other people, but she shakes the thought away. Tonight is not the night to be fretting over her missed childhood, she’s here with Mike and he wants to dance with her. Like couples do.

”I don’t know how.” El finally admits, her embarrassment growing. But Mike’s expression just softens instantly.

”I don’t either. Do you want to figure it out?” For someone who had looked so nervous before now he was practically dripping ease. El wishes she could do that, but she still feels like her stomach is twirling around and her hands are slightly shaking.

El just nods in response, not trusting her voice right now. Mike grabs her hand and that familiar comfort settles back in. It’s just Mike. There’s nothing to be scared about.

_“My poor heart aches, with every step you take.” _

El can hear the music continuing to play, the familiarity of the song and the memory of that day give her a sense of comfort and she finds herself smiling again. They make their way through the crowd. She spots Will from across the way, he looks at them and El gives him her best smile but he just quickly looks away again. The weirdness is back.

Mike takes both of her hands and places them on his shoulders. And they start swaying to the song. This doesn’t feel as nerve wrecking as she always thought it would. It just feels like when she dances with Will. It’s nice.

From the corner of her eye she can see red hair bouncing around and El has too physically stop herself from turning to look at Max. She’s here with Mike, she’s dancing with Mike. She doesn’t need to be watching Max dance with Lucas. But she can’t help it, she sneaks a look and sees how close they’re dancing. Her hands instinctively wrap around Mike’s neck in response.

But he’s not really watching her either, he’s looking out somewhere in the crowd. El follows his line of sight and finds Will, where he’s dancing happily. A relaxation seeming to settle on his shoulders that had’t been there before. Mike’s watching him with an unreadable expression on his face, and then Will turns around and meets Mikes eyes questionably. Will gives him his ever charming smile and Mike looks away immediately. He turns back to El and his face reddens like a stop sign when he realizes she had been watching him.

He looks embarrassed but theres also a trace of something that if El had to guess looked a little like guilt? And a little bit sad? Before she can question it though Mike seems to make a split-second decision and leans down.

His lips land on hers softly. It’s short. 3 seconds at most, but its longer than their first kiss. Theres so many emotions swirling around in her head and her chest she can’t even begin to try and identify one of them. Mike leans his forehead against hers and she’s calm for a moment, just a moment. 

Then with the weight of the train she had to move, panic floods all of her senses. It’s deafening, overpowering, _strong. _She pulls away from Mike quickly and he looks at her in hurt and confusion. But she’s just as confused as he is. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks her carefully.

She feels like she can’t breathe. The world is dizzying. Like the very ground beneath her is shaking, warning of impending danger on the way. It feels like from Thanksgiving, a panic attack, Will had called it.

Wait.

_Will. _

She searches the crowd and finds him. He’s shaking, too pale to be okay. The girl he was dancing with is asking him something but he barely looks like he hears her.

Oh.

It’s Will.

He’s having a panic attack. 

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Mike follow her gaze and land on Will as well. 

_“Will?” She thinks as softly as she can. _

He looks up at her from the other side of the room, his eyes wide with fear. He seems to relax just a bit when he looks at her and she tries to smile at him. Then his eyes shift from her to Mike, who’s looking at him in concern. El feels the panic build as Will looks back and worth between her and Mike and then finally he turns and runs out of the gym. Mike’s arms immediately drop from around her waist and he starts to follow Will’s retreating form. El grabs ahold of his arm and pulls him back. His eyes squint at her in confusion, but then it melt away into annoyance. 

“What are you doing?” He asks impatiently, trying to worm out of her grip but she just tightens her hands and gives him a fierce look.

”No. Stay. Let me.” She tells him with no room for argument. He looks offended and like he’s about to fight her on it but she gives him another pointed look. She leaves Mike behind without another look and starts following the path Will had went down. On her way out she’s stopped by Max, Lucas, and Dustin who seemed to all see Will run away. They’re all concerned and just like Mike want to follow after him but El just holds up her hands. 

“Let me.” She says simply, and though none of them seem too thrilled about that they give her a small nod and go find a table to sit down at. 

She pushes through different doors than she came in, ones that lead out to the hallway. Unfortunately because of all her interruptions she’s lost sight of Will. She can still feel him. He feels broken in a way she’s never felt him before. Now would’ve been a really cool time to discover their connection could work as a GPS signal, but alas, it does not.

_“Will?” She asks. Theres no response, although she knows he heard her because she felt him startle. _

_”Will please, tell me where you are?” Still nothing. She sighs deeply. This school is a maze and she doesn’t know her way around. Or where Will even would be. _

She’s about to start wandering down the halls to see if she can find him when she hears the gym doors open behind her. Her body tenses with fear, if somebody finds her out here that could be the end of her freedom as she knows it. As she turns around she’s met with a familiar mop of raven hair. Her body relaxes for a second before its fear is replaced with annoyance.

”Mike! What are you doing?” She asks exasperated, she thought she’d made it very clear she could handle this. He rolls his eyes dramatically before giving her an extremely pointed look.

”I’m going to find Will. What does it look like I’m doing.” He quipped. El rolled her eyes in reply, Mike always gets _so _impossible in regards to Will.

”I told you to stay.” She stated stiltedly. Mike made his way over to her, but his gaze was cold in a way it never was with her. Only once had she seen him like this, when they found Will’s body and he Had lost it at her. 

“I can handle this.” She added before he had time to say anything else. El _needed _to get to Will. And Mike was just holding her up when she needs to be looking for him. For all she knows he could have left the school by now.

Mike’s annoyance is growing. He’s squeezing his hands tightly and his entire body is stiff as a board, but behind his eyes there’s nothing but fear and worry and El own annoyance chips a little. She’s understanding a bit better.

”Look, I get that you and Will have found this weird little bond and that’s great. I love that you too are friends now.” He starts off walking still closer to her.

”But Will is my _best friend.” _He continues with an emphasis, he’s waving his hands around wildly as he talks, his annoyance slipping away after every word revealing more and more fear.

”He has been my best friend since we were five years old. If anyone should be checking on him its me.” He states plainly. El wants to be angry, because he doesn’t understand. She can _feel _Will’s pain. Just as much as if it were hers. But looking at Mike she’s overcome with he feeling that maybe, in some way, he can feel Will’s pain too. Not in the way she can, but in a way that when Will is hurt Mike hurts as-well. 

“Mike-“ she starts but he cuts her off with another pointed look.

”Besides, do you even know where he is?” He asks with a look that says he already knows the answer. And, well, he’s got her there. El _doesn’t _know where Will is, or where he would go. She looks down at the floor embarrassed.

”That’s what I thought.” Mike mumbles. He starts moving down the hallway, clearly already knowing his destination.

”Where are you going?” El asks before he disappears, he turns around to her with a small smirk.

”To Will. You coming?” He quirks his eyebrow at her and she just jogs after him in response. 

-

They make their way down multiple different hallways in silence, the tension still sitting in-between them loudly. Finally after a few minutes they come outside a heavily decorated room covered in paintings and art supplies all over the walls. The door is closed but looking through the windows El can see thats it’s completely dark inside. And low and behold El can just make out Will’s crumpled form in a dark corner through the window. 

“How did you know he was here?” El can’t help but ask. Mike just gives a small shrug, never looking away from Will.

”I told you. He’s my best friend. I know him. If he’s having a panic attack he’s going to go somewhere he feels safe. And the art room is pretty much the only place in this school that fits the bill.” 

Mike moves to open the door but El once again stops him. 

“Please. Just let me go in first. We don’t want to overwhelm him.” She states before he has time to say anything. He looks like he wants to argue but looking back at Will he seems to give in. He gives El a small nod. El takes a steadying breath before opening up the door and walking inside.

Will immediately looks up at the sound. He only looks partially surprised to see her. She gives the kindest smile she can muster.

Will is sitting in the far corner of the art room, he's curled around his knees protectively, hands completely white from their death grip. He looks like he’s trying desperately not to cry but when they lock eyes some of the rigidity smooths out of his muscles. He gives a halfhearted smile back. El makes her way over to his side and sits down. She wraps her arms around his shaking shoulders and he immediately melts into the embrace. They stay like that for a moment, El holding onto Wills shaking body as he tries to calm down his breathing, something they’ve done before. 

”Will?” She asks quietly trying not to scare him, he hums weakly in response. 

“Are you okay?” 

He seems to contemplate this for a second before turning to her shoulder and burying his face in it.

”No.” he whispers. He’s voice breaking. El tightens her grips instinctively.

”What happened?” She asks carefully, trying not to startle him. She knows how he gets when he has panic attacks, you have to tread lightly. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He mumbles into her shoulder, she holds back the sigh she can feel. She expected that answer but she’d hoped she’d be wrong. His emotions are just a scrambled up mess and El’s chest aches for him. She wishes he would let her help him. But she decides not to push, just as she’s done all week. 

“Thats okay.” She states simply, his body heaves with a relief. His tension relaxing a bit. Another few seconds pass in silence.

”How’d you find me anyways?” He asks in the smallest, frailest voice imaginable. He’s still shaking, and breathing incredibly fast but he seems to be calming down ever so slightly. 

“I didn’t.” El answers with a small shrug, Will’s entire face contorts in confusion but before he can question her there’s movement from the door way. Mike steps in with a nervous smile, his hands tucked anxiously into his pockets. His cheeks are scarlet.

“I did.” He said, his eyes trained on Will fiercely. El feels the reaction before she sees it. The panic that then turns to annoyance, then to anger. Will shimmy’s out of her embrace tensely. All the progress they had just made is washed away in an instant and El doesn’t understand what’s happening. 

“Are you okay?” Mike asks worryingly at the same time that Will asks coldly “What are you doing here?” 

El can feel Will’s emotions and they feel like they’re on fire. Theres an unprecedented amount of anger, but behind that there’s also a lot of fear, and disappointment. And if you dig even further under everything theres just this aching. This horrible aching that makes her feel sick when she taps into it. It feels almost familiar in a way that she knows she’s felt it before but never this strongly. It feels almost like the pit she gets in her stomach when she sees Max and Lucas together, but amplified by fifty. Will is looking at Mike like he’s the last person in the world he wants to see. But also like he’s the _only _person in the world he wants to see. And Mike is looking at Will in just pure shock.

”w-what do you m-mean?” Mike stutters out. Will’s strict gaze just thickens. 

“Why are you here Mike?” He asks again, harsher than El has ever heard him. Mike looks like he’s being broken in two. His eyes start watering ever so slightly but he can’t look away from Will.

”i-I ... you were upset. I came to look for you.” He whispers uncertainly, clearly confused and conflicted by Will’s adverse reaction. 

“Why? I didn’t ask you to follow me!” Will yells out suddenly. El is just sitting back watching the scene unfold in front of her, unsure of what to do. This isn’t Will, but it is. Mike doesn’t seem to know how to respond, he looks like Will just punched him in the face, but it doesn't matter anyways because Will continues before he could say anything.

“I don’t understand why you felt the need to be here, you were having a grand old time without me! Why don't you just go back out to the dance and forget about me!” He yells bitterly, Mikes face goes through a journey of pain to just plain confusion. 

“Will? What’s going on?” He asks, taking a step towards them but Will jumps up in response. His posture looks dangerous. 

“What’s going on? What’s going on? I don’t want you here, that’s what’s going on!” Mike looks frozen in place but Will just keeps going.

”But you don’t care what I want. You don’t care what anyone wants but you! You just insert yourself into any situation you please regardless of the fact that no one asked for you. You act like its your job to help me, to protect me, but I never asked for your help! I never asked you to protect me, or to treat me like glass. Like I’m just going to break if someone calls me zombie boy or looks at me the wrong way. Thats all _anyone _does and I thought you were different, but you’re not! You look at me the same way everyone else does, like I’m weak, like I can’t take care of myself-“ 

“That’s not true! Will, you’re the bravest person I know, you’re not weak! I know you can take care of yourself, I just want to help you!” Mike yells back in return, but he’s not angry, he’s just broken. Like he can’t understand for the life of him what’s going on but he desperately wants to fix it. 

“I don't need your help! And I don’t want it.” Will states lowly, finally stopping his yelling but his words hitting like an ice pick. 

“Will!” El finds herself proclaiming in shock, theres tears streaming down Mike’s face now. But he still looks like all he wants to do is pull Will close and never let go. 

“Just leave me alone Mike!” Will begs, tears finally forming in his eyes. His anger is seeping away and he looks seconds away from breaking. “... please.” He adds quietly, his voice breaking heavily. Mike makes a step like his going to go towards Will but El puts her hands out in warning. 

“Mike.” She says loudly, he turns to look at her in shock, like he forgot she was there at all. “Leave.” Is all she says. He wants to protest she knows, but Will is barely hanging on by a thread and though she doesn’t know why El knows that Mike is the cause. “Now Mike.” She adds when he still doesn’t leave. His eyes are flicking between them rapidly and it’s almost making El dizzy. Finally with a defeated sigh he gives one last dejected look at Will and turns around and walks back to the gym, closing the door behind him. 

In an instant Will collapses back into El’s arms, shaking violently. He’s sobbing quietly cradled in her arms. Will always cries silently, a talent he learned after years of living with Lonnie where if he would get caught crying everything would just become worse. He’s not so much panicked now as just feeling broken. Theres no other way El knows how to describe it, too many of his emotions are unfamiliar to her. 

El holds him closely in her arms for a few minutes just trying to comfort him to the best of her abilities. She’s studying his feelings intently, trying to discern what it is exactly that’s making Will so upset and what Mike has to do with it. His mind is racing, thoughts and feelings and memories are flying everywhere. Things are seeping into their connection El is sure he’s not meaning too. She can see flashes of memories, swing sets from years ago, riding bikes through the streets, sleepovers in the Wheelers basement, DnD campaigns that last hours, the upside down and singing softly, Halloween and Mike holding Wills hand, a hospital room where Mike never left Wills side, Mike’s face when El and Will stepped out of his room the morning after the gate closing. And then one final memory thats different from the others. From just a few minutes ago, Mike and El dancing, and then Mike leaning in and kissing her. It’s weird to see from someone else’s point of view, but what is even weirder is the feeling of Wills panic that laces the memory. And just like that, something clicks. A feeling she once thought she knew but had misunderstood. And she thinks that after all this time, she finally gets it.

”Will?” She whispers softly. She waits until she feels his nod in acknowledgment. She takes a deep steadying breath, tread lightly. Tread lightly. Don’t poke the broken bear. 

“I ... I think I understand now.” 

“No! You don’t!” Will whisper yells in response and then adds in a wavering voice “no one does.” 

El feels her heart break a little. Her grip on Will’s shoulders tightening. 

“Will? Please talk to me.” 

“Just drop it please. Can we please just drop this?” The aching is growing.

El has a choice, she can choose to drop the subject as she has all week and hope that when Will is ready, he’ll come to her. Or, she can push. If she pushes too hard she could end up like Mike. She doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of a Will lash out, but she also doesn’t know if she could live with herself if she just ignores everything Will is feeling. How broken he feels.

Her decision is made. _(Lets just hope its the right one.) _

_“Will?” She feels him startle slightly at the shift from talking to the connection. But he almost eases with the comfortability. _

_Tread lightly. _

_“Will, why is Mike making you sad?” She can feels his final thread snap. His sobs finally becoming vocal as he shakes in her arms. _

_Minutes pass in seconds and hours all at once. Will’s mind is a constant record of “I’m sorry”’s and “i cant”s. El does the only thing she knows how, she holds him. She lets him weep onto her without shame or fear or judgment. And she waits until he’s ready. Something says he’s going to tell her. _

_Finally his breathing calms to an acceptable level. He shifts out of her arms and she’s worried he’s going to leave but instead he just moves until he’s looking her in the eyes. Holding onto her hands like his life depends on it. He looks different. Determined in a way she’s never seen. _

_“Theres something I need to tell you.” He thinks nervously. He’s forcing a hard expression on his face, El just nods encouragingly. He seems unsure of how to continue. Seconds pass as he searches for where to go. He finally seems to land on the words. _

_“I’m ... I’m not like normal people.” He starts slowly and El can’t help but giggle._

_”yea, we’re talking with our minds.” She says matter-of-factly and thankfully Will laughs. God she missed that laugh. He settles a bit more. But she can still feel his panic inside. _

_“Thats ... that’s not what I mean.” _

_“So, what do you mean?” _

_Wills eyes fall away from hers, busying themselves with staring at some of the paint on the shelves. His hands are squeezing her own. He looks like he needs to **do** something. Suddenly El has an idea._

_”Would you like to draw something?” She asks, he looks at her in shock for a second before his eyes shine. _

_-_

_It takes a few minutes but now their sitting next to each other at one of the work tables in the art room. Will has an easel in front of him with a blank canvas on it, he collected as many colors as he could find. He starts painting smoothly and precisely, El feels the calm that immediately overtakes him as he starts working. _

_“Theres, theres something about me that I think I’ve known for awhile.” He starts. El decides to just sit back and listen, let him take the lead. _

_“It seems others have as well. My dad, kids at school, random assholes on the street.” It startles her slightly at his use of a curse word, Will doesn’t like to curse often. As he continues thinking his paint stokes are getting more wreck-less, less straight lines and planned movements and more free-falling. _

_“Something that makes me ... different from most people.” _

_“A bad different?” El asks after he’s silent for a moment, his hand freezes ever slightly._

_”i ... I don’t know.” _

_“Some people think so, a lot of people actually.” He continues painting rapidly. _

_“But, my Mom and Jonathan say they’re wrong. That they’re idiots. But ... i don't know if I believe them.”_

_Silence fills them again and Will seems stuck, not knowing where to go. El takes a deep breath in._

_”And this different, it has something to do with Mike.” It’s not really a question, more of a slow understanding. Will’s body goes rigid in a familiar way._

_”not ... exactly.” He starts. _

_“It’s like, like the different is there with or without Mike, but he just kind of seems to be a ... realization of it. Something I can’t hide from. I can’t ignore.” He tries to explain. The canvas is covered in a multitude of colors. It’s beautiful and terrified all at once._

_Will takes in a strong steadying breath, trying to hold back the tears that are returning to his eyes._

_”I’m ... gay.” He finally says. The tears run free and he starts throwing paint at the canvas. _

_“What .. is that?” El asks timidly, feeling bad for not understanding when clearly this is something that has been bugging Will for awhile. He continues to just throw paint at the canvas while silently crying for a few minutes before finally he seems to have run out of tears and paint. He turns to look at her, El grabs his hand reassuringly._

_”It means that I like boys.” El’s confusion just grows a little more._

_”the way that I’m supposed to like girls.” Oh. _

_“And thats ... different?” El asks uncertainly, and to her surprise Will laughs. Not giggles, not chuckles, **laughs. **Completely and freely. _

_“Yea. It’s different.” He says after he calms down, but he’s smiling. El thinks for a moment about what to say before finally she settles. _

_“Will?” _

_“Hmm?”_

_”I don’t think its a bad different.” _

_Before she can process Will has wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. El holds on with everything in her._

_Who knows how long they stay there, just holding each other. Will feels lighter than she’s ever felt him. And something in El’s chest settles too, something she doesn’t fully understand. Finally he pulls away, his face red and blotchy but happy once again. El dares to continue. _

_“So, you like boys?” She asks and when he nods slightly she continues._

_”So ... you like Mike?” His body goes rigid once again and El about to apologize but he beats her too it. _

_“I’m sorry.” He croaks out.   
_

_“I didn’t mean to. I never meant to. It just ... happened.” She pulls him back in._

_”Will. It’s okay.” And it is. Maybe she should feel weird. After all her and Mike are ... something. But she doesn’t. She just feels love, unconditional. And Will feels it too because he laughs again, and so does she. And it feels good. Unexplainable. _

_“Is that why your face turns red when you look at him?” She asks after a bit, and to prove her point Wills face lights up pink. _

_“Oh my god.” _

_“What even is that?” She finally dares to ask. _

_“Blushing. It’s called blushing.” He says embarrassed. El’s face just curls in confusion._

_”its ... it happens when you’re embarrassed. Or nervous. Usually when you’re nervous talking to someone you like.” He explains. El contemplates this for a moment._

_“so ... why does Max blush around me?” She asks quizzically and Will just laughs again. _

_“Maybe you make her nervous.” He supplies, though his face says he knows more than he’s saying._

_ Suddenly a thought hits her unexpectedly. Something that makes her stomach churn uncomfortably, something she almost doesn’t want to ask. But Will just looks at her fondly._

_”so if boys can like boys ... can girls like girls?” It comes out in a rush but Will just smiles at her brightly. _

_”yea. They can.” _

_“Okay.” _

_And thats that. They sit in silence for a little bit more, weight having been lifted from both of their shoulders and feeling even closer than before. Eventually El convinces him to get up and head back to dance that should be winding down by now. _

_-_

They walk back through the gym doors hand in hand, The Party are all sitting at a table close by and Mike immediately pops up when he sees Will. El squeezes his hand and he squeezes back, she gives The Party all a nod that says everything’s okay and then pulls Will to the dance floor. 

“What are we doing?” Will asks with a laugh.

”Dancing.” She replies matter of factly with a bright smile. And they dance and dance and dance until someone over the speaker announces that the dance is ending. El brings Will in for one last hug before she has to head back home. It’s filled with everything she wants to tell him and more. And just before he pulls away she whispers. 

“Talk to him.” 

He looks at her panicked, but she just grips his shoulder comfortingly.

”Not about that. About your blow up.” He looks guilty and embarrassed but nods in acceptance. They pull away and El watches Will nervously make his way over to The Party, and after seeming to reassure everything of his fineness he asks Mike something and they exist back into the hall. El sends a silent thought that everything goes well, before turning around and heading back to Hop. 

-

The snowball was absolutely nothing like she was expecting it to be, but she’s coming to learn nothing rarely is. And anyways, she kind of likes how it turned out. 

That night as she lays down to sleep, showered and in her fleece pajamas feeling more like herself again, she tunes in to check on Will. 

_“Hello?” _

_“Hey.” She sighs in relief as she always does when Will answers. _

_“You okay?” _

_“Yea. I’m okay.” He answers simply. And then he seems to think more on it and El can feel his face light up,_

_”Actually, I’m great! Better than I can remember being in a really long time!” He exclaimed, and man El could cry from happiness (and so what if she does). _

_“That’s really great Will!” She replies. _

_“Are you and Mike okay?” He sighs contently._

_”yea, were good. Thank you.” _

_“For what?” _

_“Just ... for everything.” She smiles brightly. A contentness settling between them. _

_They talk about nothing for awhile. Plans for the holidays, movies Will wants to see, presents they’re planning for their friends and families. Finally Will says that he needs to go to be and El realizes startlingly that its 3-0-0 a.m. before Will taps out for the night though she’s overcome with the urge to tell him something. _

_“Hey Will?”_

_”hmm?” He replies sleepily._

_”Mike was right. You really are the bravest person I know.” She states. She can feel his surprise, and then the warmth that pools in his chest. _

_“Goodnight El.” _

_“Night Will.” _

Silence finds her room again but the smile never leaves her face. She feels better than she has in awhile. At ease in a way that’s almost unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. She falls asleep and for the first time in who knows how long, sleeps through the night. And she decides that she really can’t wait to see The Party over the upcoming break. 

_(and if she ends up dreaming softly about her hand around a pretty red heads wrist and dancing closer than they should, well that has absolutely nothing to do with her and Will’s conversation.) _

_(and it definitely doesn’t mean anything. Or maybe it does. El doesn’t know. Maybe. Maybe, she’s different too. In more ways than one.) _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! May I just say I am so so sorry that this is 2 weeks late!!!  
I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter for some reason, this is by far the most difficult one I’ve had to write and I’m not even sure if I’m fully satisfied with it still but i needed to post it. On top of the already writers block from this chapter its also been an insane week in my personal life, I had a really tough friendship break up with one of my best friends of 2 years, I started taking new meds which is messing with my emotions, I have a lot of deadlines for school coming up and on top of all of that I’m moving on Wednesday! So it been a week! Anyways back to the story! 
> 
> Ahhhhhhhh this is a very monumental chapter. I think part of the thing that made this chapter so difficult was that I didn’t just have free rein on the story, it had to fit back into the timeline and snowball and what happens at the snowball while still adding to it. I hope you guys like this chapter, its a little more Will focused than the others and I’m sorry if that bothers anyone but I love him and I just really wanted to do a chapter about his struggles (it also leads up to when we get to his fic). I also hope no one feels like this was rushed or forced with the coming out, i spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to do this. 
> 
> Also ayyy look some Byler development!!! I can finally add that tag now that it’s officially apart of the story so yay!!!  
Next weeks chapter will focus more on El’s relationships with other people besides Will and also herself! 
> 
> Thank you for everyone who has been patient with me with this story and who has continued reading and commenting. Theres no way for me to express how much it means to me. Just like theres no way to express just how much i love writing this story and cant wait to continue!!! 
> 
> My tumblr: @strangestthings-friendswemade 
> 
> Chapter 6 preview 
> 
> —
> 
> El can feel a sinking in her chest. Hop has been so closed off for the past few weeks, but today its like he’s a completely different person. It makes no sense, Christmas is supposed to be about family and love and togetherness (or so its been explained to her), but Hop is barely anywhere to be found. Joyce just keeps giving him pitying looks from across the room like she knows what’s going on. Maybe she can help El understand. 
> 
> —


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